-■s.r-  ',1.1. i,: 


KETUPv^H•B•GKEENE• 


THE   LAST   DAYS   OF  THE 
ARCHDUKE    RUDOLPH 


L^A,:,' 


Photof^raph  :  Stanley's  Press  Agency. 


THK    ARCHDUKE    RUDOLPH.    AGED    30,    1888. 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE 
ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 


EDITED    BY 


HAMIL   GRANT 

AUTHOR  OP 
SPIES   AND    SECRET  SERVICE 


^ 


WITH  SEVEN  ILLUSTRATIONS 
FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,   MEAD   AND   COMPANY 

ly  16 


PRINTED   BY 

THE   RIVERSIDE    PRESS   LIMITED,   EDINBURGH 


SRLF 
YRL 

fk6L33 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  I 


Concerning  Myself  and  my  Family — The  Education  of  a 
Cosmopolitan — Feldkirch,  Stonyhurst,  the  Sorbonne, 
Milan — The  Making  of  a  Democrat — Viennese  Society  and 
the  Intellectuals — Kaiser  Franz  Josef  and  his  Heir — A 
Constructive  King — Bismarck  and  his  Plans  for  Prussia — 
Rudolph's  Popularity 


Chapter  II 


Fears  of  Austrian  Landowners — I  possess  my  Uncle's 
Confidence — Am  appointed  Imperial  Messenger — Join 
Austrian  Embassy  in  London — Oberon's  Lincolnshire 
and  Gamecock's  National — I  return  to  Vienna  with  the 
Archduke 


Chapter  III 


Secretary  to  the  Archduke  Rudolph — His  Fascinating 
Personality  and  AbiUty — Our  Visit  to  BerUn — A  Future 
King  and  a  Future  Kaiser — Prince  William  of  Prussia  and 
his  Clique — The  Pan-German  Idea — BerUn's  Fear  of 
Rudolph's  Popularity  and  Prestige 


PACE 


17 


28 


39 


Chapter  IV       . 

The  Prussian  Royal  Family — Intrigues  respecting  the 
Succession — The  Crown  Prince's  Malady — The  Crown 
Princess  Victoria — The  Heir-Presumptive' s  Attitudes — 
Albert  Edward  and  Rudolph  —  A  Curious  Wager — 
Rudolph's  Opinion  of  Albert  Edward — Albert  Edward's 
Complaint  of  the  Press 

7 


52 


8  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  V         ......  65 

An  Old  Acquaintance  in  Berlin — I  meet  Prince  Bismarck 
— His  Friend  Orloff — Bismarck's  Secret  Agents — 
Rudolph's  Opinion  of  Bismarck — My  Regard  for  the 
Chancellor 

Chapter  VI        .  .  .  .  .  .80 

The  Kulturkampf  in  Germany — Position  of  the  CathoUc 
Body — Prussian  Official  Salons — Austria's  National  Party 
and  the  Vatican — Kaiser  Franz  Josef's  Life  Story — 
Rudolph's  RationaUsm — His  Ideas  about  Rehgion 

Chapter  VII      ......  96 

The  Vetsera  FamUy  in  Vienna — Their  Levantine  Origin — 
The  Empress  Elizabeth  and  Marie  Vetsera — "  Home- 
Day  "  at  the  Hofburg — Love,  Immortality  and  a  Cross- 
Examination — I  discourse  to  my  Master  of  Love  and 
"  Residual  Forces  " — The  Archduke  and  Women — Con- 
fessional— Madame  de  Stael  and  Napoleon 

Chapter  VIII    ......         109 

The  Viennese  Woman — Concerning  Mademoiselle — Her 
Attraction  for  Rudolph — Archduke  taboos  Women  in 
Politics — Baroness  Larricarda's  Salon — Changes  in  Social 
Vienna — I  become  a  Visitor  at  the  Baroness's — Germans 
in  Viennese  and  European  Society — I  meet  Koinofi  again 
— A  Conversation  at  my  Rooms 

Chapter  IX       .  .  ,  .  .  .121 

Some  Capitals  compared — London  that  was — Anglo- 
French  Characteristics — Social  Changes  in  England  and 
Some  Causes — Queen  Victoria's  Jubilee  of  1887 — The 
Archduke's  Party  in  Paris — His  Attitude  towards  Sub- 
ordinates—Reception by  the  English  Court — Attitude  of 
British  People  towards  their  Royal  Family — Upper. 
Middle  and  Lower  Classes — Women's  Social  Mania — The 
Archduke  and  Prince  Wilham  of  Prussia— An  Apt  Retort 


CO^^  TENTS  9 


PAGE 


Chapter  X         .  .  .  .  •  •         I35 

I  go  into  Chambers  in  Vienna  during  my  Master's  Absence 
— An  Unexpected  Visit  from  Koinoff — A  Question  of 
Finance — Koinoff's  Nationality — His  Career,  Present  and 
Past — I  am  willing  to  accommodate  him — Koinoff  as 
"  Tommy  Atkins  " — How  he  beat  a  Prussian  Spy — 
Koinoff  and  his  Honour — A  Success  at  Cards 

Chapter  XI       .  .  .  •  •  .146 

Kinsky  arrives  in  Vienna — Occupies  my  Flat — We  discuss 
the  Crown  Prince  Frederick's  Malady — Also  the  Future 
Kaiser,  Wilhelm  II. — His  Napoleonomania — Professor 
Buckle's  Ideas — Prince  Henry  of  Prussia  and  a  Danseuse 
— To  Berlin  for  the  Obsequies  of  the  Emperor  WiUiam  I. 
— I  meet  Count  Herbert  Bismarck — Prince  William's  Dis- 
hke  of  Herbert— The  Dismissal  of  Ministers  considered — 
Napoleon's  Mistakes — Fascination  of  all  the  Bismarcks — 
Herbert  a  Misanthrope — A  Choice  of  Emperors — Hoping 
for  the  Best — I  study  some  Enigmas — Meeting  with 
Wolfram 

Chapter  XII      ......         158 

San  Remo's  Crowd  of  Notables — Physicians  and  Surgeons 
— Sir  Morell  Mackenzie — PoUtical  Aspects  of  Frederick's 
Malady — His  Consort's  Intervention — What  History  will 
say  of  Frederick's  Death — Bismarck's  RussophiUsm — An 
Imperial  Counsel — Bismarck's  Press-Agency  Work — 
Austrian  and  EngMsh  Views — Foresight  of  Two  Heirs- 
Apparent — Real  Greatness  of  King  Edward — A  Romanoff 
Grand  Duke — Rudolph's  Independence  of  Character — 
German  Gutter-Press  Stories— The  Archduke's  Title 
to  Respect — His  Versatility — An  Essay  and  Some 
Correspondence 

Chapter  XIII    ......         174 

Return  to  Laxenburg  Castle — Kaiser  Franz's  Unexpected 
Visit  to  his  Son — The  Rudolph-Vetsera  Liaison — 
Rudolph's  Loyalty  to  his  Sire — Promise  to  give  up  Marie 


10  CONTENTS 

Chapter  XIII — continued  p^ob 

Vetsera — Rudolph  and  his  Mother — Alleged  Appeal  by 
the  Archduke  for  Divorce — Prussia's  Conquest-Manias — 
My  Turf  Successes — Koinoff  visits  me  again — His  Gaming 
Transactions — Count  Potocki's  Visit — Koinoff's  Story  of 
a  Mysterious  Letter — Bismarck  will  do  no  Murder — Ich 
bin  kein  sicarius — Who  is  implicated  in  Berlin's  Mur- 
derous Intrigues — Question  of  the  Vatican — The  Secular 
Arm — A  New  Man  and  New  Measures  in  Berlin — The 
most  Pathetic  Kind  of  Mediocrity 

Chapter  XIV    ......        189 

Berlin  in  July  1888 — A  City  of  Martial  Law — Return  of 
Wolfram  to  Vienna — What  Kinsky's  Cousin  had  to  relate 
— His  Friend  the  Bocher — Berlin's  Money-lenders  and 
their  Satellites — Evidence  of  Inside  Information — Forg- 
ing the  Archduke's  Handwriting — A  Forged  Letter  from 
Rudolph — On  the  Trail  of  the  Enemy — Intentions  of 
MiUtarists  in  Berhn — Ineptitude  of  Berlin's  Agents — 
Sharps  versus  Flats — Clerics  and  Conspirators — Prince 
Henry's  New-found  Importance — Bismarck  and  Im- 
ponderabilia — The  Great  Imponderable — Natural  End 
of  Pork-eaters — PoUtico-Spiritual  Role  of  the  Vatican — 
Austria  and  the  Omens 

Chapter  XV      ......         203 

Wolfram,  Christiane  and  Prince  Henry — The  Prussian 
Prince's  Threats — Lazarus  suggests  a  "  Reconciliation  " 
— Kaiser  Wilhelm's  Various  Poses — His  Brother's  Equally 
Simian  Characteristics — Henry's  Aflfectation  of  Sailor-like 
Simphcity — Christiane  returns  to  her  old  Lover — What 
she  seeks  to  discover — Plays  on  Henry's  Vanity — Anti- 
pathy of  the  Imperial  Brothers  towards  Rudolph — The 
Vatican's  Enigmatical  Role — Monsignore  Galimberti's 
Aspirations — Christiane's  Flight  to  Vienna — Our  Pre- 
cautions to  protect  Rudolph — His  Horror  of  being 
"  PoUced  " — Vienna  Foreign  Office's  Ignorance — The  Case 
of  Marie  Vetsera — Her  Regard  for  Rudolph — Koinoff 
avoids  me— A  Successful  Double-Event — Rudolph's  Debts 
and  Creditors— Where  Berlin  came  in 


CONTENTS  11 

PAOB 

Chapter  XVI    ......         218 

Chez  Madame  Larricarda — Unpopularity  of  Myself — 
Prussians  attend  her  Receptions  in  Large  Numbers — 
Koinoff  a  Noteworthy  Absentee — Bombelles  and  Myself — 
My  Last  Visit  to  the  Baroness  Larricarda's — Some  Ac- 
compUshments  I  possess — A  Contretemps  in  the  Card- 
room — A  Stiff  Retort — Am  summoned  to  the  Archduke's 
Study — Proposed  Visit  to  Meyerling — I  am  given  a  Holi- 
day— The  Archduke  on  Game-shooting — The  Prince  on 
my  Vigilance — What  His  Highness  knew — A  Healthy 
Habsburg  Instinct — A  Direct  Warning  from  Marie  Vet- 
sera — The  Archduke's  Courage — His  Hope  for  Austria's 
Future — The  Triple  AlUance  in  Practice — The  Arch- 
duke's Opinion  of  Wilhelm  11. — England's  World- Role — 
"  Carthage  must  be  destroyed  " — His  Hopes  for  Social 
Democracy — Prince  Philip  of  Coburg 

Chapter  XVII  ......        232 

Prince  Rudolph  as  Sportsman — His  Exploits  in  Danubian 
Countries — A  Student  of  Zoological  Traits — Some  De- 
ductions from  his  Studies — An  Emersonian  Bias — Game- 
hunting  in  German  Countries — A  Chapter  from  Cornhill 
— A  Favourite  Keeper — The  Ritual  of  Deer-hunting — 
Tracking  the  Roe — Placing  the  Guns — Beaters  at  Work 
— Routing  out  the  Game — Some  Democratic  Touches — 
Congratulations  on  Sportsmanship  —  A  Processional 
Return  Homewards — The  Song  of  the  Beaters 

Chapter  XVIII  .....        242 

Prince  Rudolph's  alleged  Suicidal  Mania — The  Philo- 
sophy of  Suicides — Pessimists  and  Optimists — Napoleon's 
Ideas  on  Suicide  those  of  the  Archduke — Reasons  against 
the  Theory  of  Prince  Rudolph's  Suicide — 26th  January 
1889 — The  Archduke's  Ideas  about  German  Actors  and 
the  Theatre  in  General — "  Elemental  Men  and  Simians  " 
— An  Improvised  Comedy — The  Archduke  as  Stage 
Napoleon — Bismarck  and  Playgoers — Ideas  about  Music 


12  CONTENTS 

Chapter  XVIII — continued  paqe 

"  Cleverly  harmonised  Rumpus  " — Wagner's  Hypnotic 
Powers — A  Theory  of  Success  in  Life — Wagner  and  the 
Artistic  Temperament — Archducal  Ideas  on  Painting  and 
Literature — A  Visit  to  the  Rubens  Gallery — Art  and  a 
Physiological  Question 

Chapter  XIX     ......        255 

The  Crown  Lands  of  Baden — The  Schloss  of  Meyerling — 
Formerly  a  Cistercian  Convent — The  Archducal  Apart- 
ments— Late  Hours  at  the  Lodge — A  Message  from  His 
Highness — A  Visit  to  the  Hofburg  Library— I  meet  Wol- 
fram— Decide  on  a  Sojoumat  Heiligen  Kreuz — A  Rencontre 
at  the  Southern  Station — Another  Surprise  at  Baden — A 
Walk  to  Heiligen  Kreuz — Herr  Wirt  of  the  Gasthaus — His 
Archducal  Visitor — A  Bottle  of  Tokay — A  Rough  Quart- 
ette of  Prussians — My  Landlord's  Recollections — The 
Witch  of  AUand — A  Prophecy  to  Kaiser  Franz — My 
Servant  fails  me — Only  appears  at  Breakfast-time — His 
Adventures  in  the  Night — The  Road  to  Meyerling  and 
back  to  the  Kreuz 

Chapter  XX.     ......        275 

The  Pine-woods  round  Heiligen  Kreuz — An  Unexpected 
Rencontre — Dr  Widerhofer  of  Vienna — He  announces  the 
Murder  of  the  Archduke  and  Marie  Vetsera — How  Baden 
got  the  News — ^We  go  on  to  the  Lodge — Some  Ofi&cial 
Declarations  and  Discrepancies — Joseph  Bratfisch's  State- 
ments— An  Impromptu  Entertainment — The  Morning  of 
30th  January — Bratfisch  and  his  Master — How  the  Bodies 
were  found — I  visit  the  Death-chamber — My  Importance 
ceases — A  Conversation  with  Bratfisch — The  Alleged 
Letters  of  Prince  Rudolph — My  Wirt  arrives — I  return  to 
Heihgen  Kreuz — A  Sad  Special  to  Vienna — Burial  of  the 
Crown  Prince  Rudolph — Koinoff's  Last  Letter 

Epilogue  ......        285 


Index 


287 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Archduke  Rudolph,  aged  30,   1888  .  Frontispiece 

The  Archduke  Rudolph,  aged  24,  1882  To  face  page    36 

Albert  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,   1887  .  „             60 

Mademoiselle  Marie  Vetsera,  January  1888  ,,  no 

Prince  Bismarck  in  Retirement,  1890  .  „           186 

Mademoiselle  Vetsera,  January  1889  .  „           214 

In  the  Chapelle  Ardente   .            .  .  „           280 


13 


PRINCIPAL  CHARACTERS 

The  Archduke  Rudolph  :  Crown  Prince  of  Austria- 
Hungary,  born  at  Laxenburg  Castle,  Vienna,  1858, 
found  dead  at  Meyerling  Schloss,  30th  January 
1889.  Universally  admitted  to  have  been  one  of  the 
most  intellectual  princes  in  Europe  in  his  day  ;  a  keen 
politician  and  a  student  of  democratic  and  labour 
movements ;  contributor  to  political  and  literary 
newspapers  and  magazines,  two  of  which  he  himself 
helped  to  edit ;  was  a  noted  sportsman;  corresponded 
with  the  most  important  men  of  his  time,  and  was  on 
terms  of  especial  intimacy  with  the  then  Prince  of 
Wales,  afterwards  Edward  VII. 

Mademoiselle  Marie  Vetsera  :  daughter  of  a  Hun- 
garian baron,  whose  wife  was  of  the  Baltazzi  family 
of  bankers,  well  known  in  the  Levant.  Attached  to 
the  suite  of  the  Empress  Elizabeth,  mother  of  the 
Archduke  Rudolph,  Mademoiselle  Vetsera,  still  in  her 
teens  and  a  girl  of  great  beauty,  soon  attracted  the 
attention  and  won  the  heart  of  the  Crown  Prince,  the 
liaison  lasting  from  1888  till  January  1889,  when,  with 
her  lover,  she  was  found  dead  at  Meyerling  Lodge 
in  Lower  Austria.  Mademoiselle  Vetsera,  it  seems 
clear,  was  no  intrigante  or  adventuress,  but  was  deeply 
attached  to  the  Archduke  Rudolph. 

Count  Arthur  Potocki  :  born  1857,  a  member  of  the 
distinguished  family  of  that  name,  which  has  given 
many  men  and  women  of  note  to  the  political,  social 
and  literary  life  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  monarchy. 
A  relative  of  the  Minister  of  the  same  name. 

IS 


16  PRINCIPAL  CHARACTERS 

Bn  Fr.  X.  KiNSKY:  born  1 86 1,  member  of  a  cadet  branch 
of  the  famous  family  of  Kinsky,  the  present  head  of 
which  is  Prince  Karl  Kinsky,  who,  as  Count  Kinsky, 
was  a  well-known  sportsman  on  the  European  turf, 
and  steered  the  steeplechaser  Zoedone  to  victory  in 
the  Liverpool  Grand  National. 

Count  Wolfram  :  a  connection,  by  marriage,  of  several 
notable  Viennese  families,  and,  until  1905,  one  of  the 
wealthiest  racing-men  on  the  Continental  turf 

Herr  Isidore  Koinoff  :  an  Austrian  Pole  who  migrated 
to  the  United  States  after  the  tragedy  of  Meyerling 
in  1889,  and  has  been  successful  in  amassing,  under  a 
new  name,  a  considerable  fortune  in  the  Middle  West 
as  a  publishing  newspaperman.  Has  contributed  to 
the  United  States  press  anonymous  recollections  of 
his  Berlin-Vienna  experiences. 

Madame  •'  Larricarda  " :  a  member  of  a  good 
but  impoverished  Austrian  family,  of  whom  it  has 
been  said  that  she  "  was  probably  an  unconscious 
agent  of  Berlin's  secret  service."  This  lady  was  one 
of  several  persons  who  were  banished  from  Austria  as 
a  result  of  the  tragedy  of  Meyerling. 

Joseph  Bratfisch  :  a  member  of  the  Archduke  Rudolph's 
stable  service,  who  acted,  on  occasion,  either  as  coach- 
man or  as  body-servant  to  His  Highness.  His  cousin, 
Conrad  Bratfisch,  was  valet  to  the  Archduke's  per- 
sonal secretary. 


CHAPTER  I 

Concerning  Myself  and  my  Family  —  The  Education  of  a 
Cosmopolitan — Feldkirch,  Stonyhurst,  the  Sorbonne,  Milan 
— The  Making  of  a  Democrat — Viennese  Society  and  the 
Intellectuals — Kaiser  Franz  Josef  and  his  Heir — A  Con- 
structive King — Bismarck  and  his  Plans  for  Prussia — 
Rudolph's  Popularity 

In  attempting  to  tell  the  story  of  the  last  days  of 
my  unfortunate  chief  and  patron,  the  Archduke 
Rudolph  of  Habsburg,  as  with  an  excusable  enough 
pride  he  was  wont  to  speak  of  himself  in  familiar 
and  convivial  company,  it  may  be  proper  to  set 
forth  my  claim  to  have  filled  so  important  a 
position  as  that  of  intimate  personal  secretary 
to  His  Highness,  as  well  as  right  to  explain  who 
I  am  and  how  I  came  to  be  associated  with  the 
heir  to  the  Austrian  throne. 

I  intend  to  give  of  my  family  and  its  record, 
just  such  indications  as  will  provide  a  warranty  of 
their  truthfulness  for  those  who  may  reasonably 
be  supposed  to  have  had  some  knowledge  of  the 
social  and  political  conditions  of  Europe  in  the 
years  1887,  1888  and  1889.  Beyond  this  I  cannot, 
for  reasons  which  appear  obvious,  be  expected 
to  go.  The  role  which  myself  played  in  the 
social  drama  of  those  years  was,  in  view  of  my 
comparative  youth  and  inexperience,  more  that 
of  a  spectator  than  an  actor,  as  will  duly  be  realised 

B  17 


18   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

in  the  course  of  this  narrative.  My  story  may, 
nevertheless,  be  taken  to  be  the  truth,  and,  as  the 
initiated  will  not  require  to  be  told,  I  have  written 
nothing  which  could  not  be  fully  substantiated  if 
access  might  be  obtained  to  the  private  archives 
of  the  imperial  houses  under  consideration.  The 
near  future  must,  in  any  case,  reveal  the  truth  as 
I  bear  witness  to  it. 

I  am  a  cosmopolitan  by  lineage  as  well  as 
by  inclination,  although  the  souche  or  stock  of 
my  family  is  undoubtedly  Austro-German.  The 
estate  of  my  uncle — my  dead  father's  eldest 
brother — ^^^as  one  of  the  most  considerable  in 
Carinthia,  lying  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hutt en- 
berg.  This  uncle's  second  patrimony  was  situated 
to  the  north-west  of  Venetia,  in  Friuli,  a  region 
which  considers  itself,  even  to  these  days,  Italian  ; 
indeed,  it  was  a  source  of  mild  domestic  unrest  in 
my  uncle's  home  that  his  wife,  who  belonged  to 
the  Orsini  tribe,  always  affected  to  consider  herself 
superior  in  point  of  origin  to  her  Germanic 
husband,  and  admitted  only  one  recommendation 
in  his  favour — namely,  the  fact  that  his  mother 
had  also  been  an  Italian  of  the  wealthy  and 
newly  ennobled  Lombardini  house.  This  lady's 
father  had  in  his  time  married  a  lady  of  the 
distinguished  house  of  Stapleton,  in  Yorkshire, 
a  Catholic  family,  while  another  brother  had 
married  into  the  Benevento  family,  which  was 
better  known  in  France  by  the  more  illustrious 
name  of  Perigord.  In  the  year  1887,  when  I  was 
in  my  twenty-fifth  year,  I  was  kinsman  to  men 


A  COSMOPOLITAN'S  EDUCATION      19 

who  were  notables  in  Austria,  in  Italy,  in  England 
and  in  France.  Add  to  this  the  further  considera- 
tion that  a  Neapolitan  princely  relative  of  my 
aunt's  Roman  family,  della  Rocca  by  name,  had 
married  into  the  rich  German- Jewish  family  of 
Heine,  the  well-known  poet  who  resided  for  the 
most  part  in  Paris,  and  it  will  be  admitted  that 
my  pretensions  to  be  a  "  kosmopolite,"  as  we 
Teutons  term  it,  are  not  ill  founded.  In  the 
capitals  of  the  countries  just  named  I  had  intimate 
connections,  and  indeed  may  claim  to  have  had 
both  a  home  and  a  welcome  in  all  of  them. 

My  father  died  in  Vienna,  where,  as  a  Court 
official,  he  resided,  when  I  was  ten  years  old,  my 
mother  following  two  years  later,  after  which  I 
was  entrusted  to  the  care  of  the  best  of  uncles. 
I  pass  over  the  years  of  my  early  education,  which 
was  obtained  at  the  school  of  Feldkirch ;  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  I  was  sent  to  England,  and  passed 
three  years  at  the  Jesuit  College  of  Stonyhurst, 
in  Lancashire ;  leaving  there,  I  passed  to  London, 
where  for  two  years  I  studied  with  a  well-known 
tutor,  the  intention  being  that  I  should  proceed 
to  Oxford.  The  then  Cardinal  of  Westminster, 
Monsignor  Manning,  a  close  friend  of  my  English 
guardian,  a  Mr  M.  Stapleton,  counselled,  however, 
against  my  becoming  an  Oxford  man,  and  this 
on  the  ground,  as  I  was  then  informed,  that 
residence  at  Oxford  was  certain  to  kill  my  religious 
beliefs.  In  due  course  I  proceeded  to  Paris,  where 
I  entered  as  a  student  at  the  old  Sorbonne ;  here 
I  spent  two  years,  becoming  at  the  end  of  that 


20  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

time  a  licencie-is-lettres  and  being  credited  with 
speaking  French  unusually  well.  Languages  I 
found  easy  of  acquirement ;  English  I  spoke 
almost  like  a  native  ;  Italian  I  read  and  wrote 
like  an  educated  Roman,  so  that  when,  in  my 
twenty-first  year,  I  proceeded  to  Milan,  I  soon 
attained  great  ease  in  speaking  that  language. 
I  mention  this  gift  of  tongues  for  the  reason,  only, 
that  it  was  the  one  which  in  due  course  drew 
towards  me  the  attention  of  the  Archduke  Rudolph, 
himself  an  accomplished,  if  somewhat  "guttural" 
linguist,  a  characteristic,  by  the  way,  which  he 
shared  with  his  lifelong  friend.  Prince  Albert 
Edward  of  Wales.  I  left  Milan,  after  a  year's 
stay,  in  my  twenty-third  year,  and  proceeded  to 
Vienna,  where  my  uncle  was  passing  the  Court 
season,  in  the  early  summer  of  1885. 

My  life  in  England,  France  and  Italy  had  given 
my  character  so  strong  a  predisposition  towards 
what  is — to  Austrians  at  least — unaccountably 
called  Bohemianism,  that  the  somewhat  strait- 
laced  society  of  Vienna  was  hardly  likely  to  accord 
with  my  tastes.  By  my  cosmopolitan  education, 
of  a  democratic  turn  of  mind,  I  disliked  any  social 
system  which  refused  even  to  men  of  eminent 
intellectual  worth  the  entree  to  its  first  coteries, 
except  on  terms  of  the  barest  sufferance  and  in  a 
way  which  no  self-respecting  man  could  tolerate, 
once  he  had  tested  the  temper  of  Viennese  aristoc- 
racy towards  all  who  had  been  born  outside  its 
narrow  circle.  In  London  and  in  Paris  I  had  had 
ample   opportunity  of  noting  that  great  talent 


EXCLUSIVE  VIENNESE  SOCIETY      21 

practically  led  the  great  world  of  the  time,  and 
that  the  highly  placed  were  really  the  instruments 
of  its  will  and  ceuvre,  no  matter  what  the  noble 
dispensers  of  hospitality  may  themselves  have 
thought  of  relative  positions  in  the  matter.  In 
Mayfair  and  in  the  Quartier  St  Germain  there 
were,  of  course,  houses  in  which  the  principle  of 
"  noble  quarterings  "  still  prevailed  as  the  con- 
dition of  acceptableness  ;  but  these  coteries  were, 
for  the  most  part,  of  the  dullest  and  most  tasteless 
kind,  and  neither  the  real  London  nor  the  real 
Paris  cared  about  their  existence — in  truth,  rarely 
heard  of  them.  Viennese  society  was,  on  the 
contrary,  based  wholly  on  the  principle  of 
"  quarterings,"  and  the  attitude  of  a  certain  great 
English  noble  who  once  subjected  Dr  Johnson  to 
the  indignity  of  dining  behind  a  screen,  in  order 
to  conceal  the  poverty  of  the  lexicographer's 
attire  from  fellow-guests,  was  practically  that  of 
noble  Austrians  towards  distinguished  commoners 
of  all  kinds. 

An  important  result  of  this  insane  exclusive- 
ness  was  that  intellectual  Vienna  set  about 
establishing  its  own  social  unit,  equally  exclusive 
and  self-contained,  and  so  there  sprang  into  exist- 
ence a  kind  of  Separate  Estate  which,  by  main- 
taining an  intriguing  radicalism  in  its  general 
attitude  towards  the  imperial  regime,  became  one 
of  the  fruitful  factors  in  hastening  the  decay, 
not  only  of  the  monarchy,  but  also  of  Austria's 
political  prestige  in  the  eyes  of  Europe.  It  is 
true    that    Kaiser   Franz    was    too    practised    a 


22    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

statesman  not  to  realise  that  his  nobility  was  under- 
mining its  own  stability  as  well  as  the  dynasty  of 
the  Habsburgs.  Himself  he  sought  to  neutralise 
this  by  affecting  the  Pauline  attitude  of  being  all 
things  to  all  men — a  pose  from  which  he  was 
constitutionally  altogether  averse,  since  the  divine 
quality  of  popular  sympathy  has  always  been 
foreign  to  his  nature.  Added  to  this  comes  the 
fact  that  he  is  among  the  least  intellectual  of  men, 
and  although  more  than  once  deservedly  de- 
scribed as  the  first  gentleman  in  Europe,  it  is 
only  in  the  social  or  imperial  sense  that  he  can 
be  so  regarded.  What  Voltaire,  I  think,  speaks 
of  as  the  born  kindliness  which  springs  from  a 
sympathetic  heart  has  been  temperamentally 
denied  to  Francis  Joseph.  In  him  there  is  little 
of  the  real  humanitarian,  however  much  policy 
may  dictate  the  semblance  of  that  quality,  and 
to  my  mind  he  represents  a  true  type  of  the  neo- 
pagan — a  Roman  Emperor  in  modern  military 
uniform,  with  something  of  the  ethical  veneer  of 
a  Borgia  cardinal :  a  man  above  malice,  however, 
and  one  whose  temperamental  failings  are  due 
more  to  a  native  bloodless  indifference  than  to 
any  hardness  of  disposition. 

Of  an  entirely  different  cast  was  my  chief,  the 
Archduke  Rudolph.  To  what  particular  ancestor 
he  owed  his  reversionary  type  would  prove  a 
highly  speculative  problem — ^to  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  perhaps.  That  the  gods  had  especially 
favoured  him  is,  however,  very  certain,  and  it 
was  the  opinion  of  the  most  considerable  men  of 


RUDOLPH  AND  ALBERT  EDWARD   23 

his  day  that  he  was  of  the  stuff  of  constructive 
kings.  To  my  mind  he  resembled  no  prince  who 
has  come  within  the  scope  of  my  observation  so 
much  as  his  friend,  correspondent  and  pohtical 
mentor,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  later  became 
Edward  VII.  There  was  indeed  a  marvellous 
mental  and  psychical  resemblance  between  the 
two  heirs-apparent.  Each  possessed  a  profound 
personal  fascination,  an  omnivorous  interest  in 
all  things  pertaining  to  human  kind  and  human 
progress  ;  each  was  in  his  real  heart  a  man  of 
the  people,  a  lover  of  peace,  and  to  both  had  been 
granted  those  gifts  so  rarely  bestowed  on  princes — 
namely,  the  faculty  of  assimilating  and  grasping 
the  spirit  and  actualities  of  the  age  into  which 
they  are  born,  as  well  as  the  intuition  which  senses 
its  evolutionary  process.  In  rulers  who  do  not 
possess  these  gifts,  the  chief  tendency  is  towards 
a  decadent  retrogression,  or  at  least  to  a  stag- 
nant conservatism.  The  main  constituent  in  the 
fascination  and  popularity  of  both  Rudolph  and 
Albert  Edward  was  their  active  recognition  that 
in  the  world  of  their  day  Democracy  held  the  only 
cards  worth  holding,  that  Feudalism  had  passed 
beyond  recall,  that  the  final  dispatch  of  Militarism 
was  but  a  matter  of  years.  Neither  had  required 
any  Seer  to  read  to  him  the  portents  of  1864, 1866 
and  1870. 

Bismarck,  it  may  be  remembered,  was  on  one 
occasion  frank  enough  to  unveil  his  mind  regard- 
ing the  sincerity  of  Austria's  attachment  to  the 
new  conditions  which  gave  Prussia  the  headship  of 


24    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

Germanic  Europe.  The  astute  Chancellor  saw 
further  than  the  diplomatic  dullards  of  Berlin. 

"  Austria,"  he  said  in  effect,  "  may  forgive  us, 
but  can  she  forget  ?  " 

Would  the  reversionary  heirs  of  the  Caesars  per- 
manently consent  to  abase  themselves  before  the 
late  boors  of  the  Brandenburg  Mark  ?  It  was 
certain  that  with  Austria  lay  the  decision  for  or 
against  the  Hohenzollerns,  and  Bismarck  realised 
that  the  only  hope  for  the  dynasty  he  served  so 
faithfully  lay  in  crushing  out  all  hope  of  an  Austrian 
revival,  all  attempt  to  recapture  her  hereditary 
position  as  the  arbitress  of  the  Germanic  Bond  and 
its  destinies  in  the  world.  For  him,  therefore,  and 
his  policies,  no  constructive  kings  outside  Berlin. 

Between  Kaiser  Franz  and  his  heir  Rudolph 
there  subsisted  a  perfect  affection — not  so  un- 
common a  phenomenon  where  the  parental  bond 
serves  as  the  welding  force  of  two  antithetical 
natures.  Unlike  many  other  dynastic  families, 
moreover,  the  family  sense  of  the  Habsburgs  is 
a  strongly  developed  trait.  Kaiser  Franz,  it  is 
well  known,  has  few  illusions  about  his  in- 
tellectual limitations ;  nor  was  he  at  all  ignorant 
or  jealous  of  the  commanding  personal  qualities 
of  his  heir,  to  whom,  in  truth,  he  looked  to  restore 
to  the  dynasty  that  prestige  of  which  a  succession 
of  political  and  warlike  mischances  had  robbed 
it  since  days  dating  as  far  back  as  Austerlitz 
and  Wagram.  The  Emperor  well  knew  that  the 
Archduke  was  pre-eminently  well  equipped  for 
that  role  of  socio-political  compromise  for  which 


AN  IDEAL  CROWN  PRINCE  25 

he  himself  felt  he  was,  temperamentally  considered, 
but  poorly  fitted.  Indeed,  it  was  an  accepted 
axiom  in  Vienna  in  the  eighties  that  the  pre- 
maturely ageing  Kaiser  was  freely  willing  to 
abdicate,  in  favour  of  his  son,  a  throne  to  which 
he  clung  only  from  an  overwhelming  sense  of 
duty  to  the  honour  of  his  House — a  sentiment 
so  transparently  honest  and  so  actively  forceful 
in  him  that  it  has  enabled  him  to  retain  his  crown 
where  any  weaker  monarch  must  have  lost  it  be- 
yond redemption  for  his  race.  And  so  it  was  that 
conditions  ensued  within  the  empire  very  similar 
to  those  which  existed  during  the  widowhood  of 
Queen  Victoria,  when,  socially  speaking,  the  Heir- 
Apparent  was  King  in  all  but  title,  the  Archduke 
enacting  a  corresponding  role  in  Austrian  society. 
Rudolph  it  invariably  w^as  who  represented 
the  Emperor  in  all  social  movements  which 
were  calculated  to  conciliate  the  self-isolated 
Separate  Estate — a  body  which  played  within 
the  empire  the  role  of  destructive  critic  of  the 
existing  regime.  To  its  adherents  Rudolph  was 
not  only  acceptable  on  the  ground  of  his  known 
sympathy  with  democratic  aspirations  ;  he  was 
also  bound  to  them  by  the  fact  that  his  private 
purse  had  subsidised  several  publications,  one 
of  which  was,  indeed,  owned  and  partly  edited 
by  himself.  The  Prince  had,  moreover,  written 
several  respectable  books  of  travel  and  science, 
and  among  his  closest  friends  were  Austrian 
journalists  and  literary  men  of  European  note. 
It  was  publicly  understood,  and  privately  a  matter 


26    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

of  knowledge,  that  Rudolph's  own  inclination  was 
in  favour  of  the  strongest  possible  political  re- 
lationship with  England  and  Russia  as  the  surest 
means  of  curbing  Prussian  ambitions ;  further, 
that  he  regarded  the  Triple  Alliance  as  the  out- 
ward expression  of  the  policy  which  was  not  only 
reducing  Austria  to  the  condition  of  a  vassal  of 
Prussia,  but  which  was  also  the  means  by  which 
Bismarck  assured  her  continued  subjection.  His 
private  life,  it  was  admitted,  was  hardly  such  as 
became  the  Heir-Apparent  to  a  Most  Catholic 
monarchy ;  his  love  affairs  were  legion,  his  sacri- 
fices to  Bacchus  notorious,  while  his  vast  debts 
were  the  measure  of  his  passion  for  gambling  and 
dissipation  of  many  varieties.  Julius  Caesar,  it 
might  be  recalled,  had  himself  spent  a  vicious  and 
dissipated  youth.  Subjects  prefer,  I  think,  that 
their  future  rulers  shall  have  looked  upon  life  in 
all  its  multi-coloured  expressions.  His  life  was 
a  sign,  moreover,  that  officious  Vaticanism  would 
count  for  little  under  Emperor  Rudolph  ;  and,  in 
any  case,  he  was  still  on  the  better  side  of  thirty, 
with  ample  time  for  self -reform. 

In  Germanic  countries  of  his  time,  Prince 
Bismarck,  it  is  perhaps  hardly  necessary  to  state, 
towered,  without  danger  of  rivalry  or  comparison, 
above  all  men  to  whom  Destiny  had  assigned  a 
political  or  diplomatic  role  in  the  history  of  their 
own  age,  and  it  is  not  to  be  denied  at  this  stage, 
one  may  suppose,  that  since  the  age  of  Napoleon, 
no  such  imperious  personality  had  appeared  in 
Europe    to    work    the   will    of    the    Fates.     The 


"  RUDOLPH,  EMPEROR  OF  GERMANY !  "  27 

Chancellor's  own  marvellous  intuitions  in  matters 
of  intrigue,  as  well  as  his  sense  of  imposing 
portents,  whether  in  men  or  in  matters,  were 
powerfully  assisted  by  a  network  of  espionage  and 
secret  service  the  like  of  which  has  been  unknown 
since  Hannibal  prepared  his  titanic  descent  upon 
Consular  Rome.  And  so  it  was  that  Bismarck 
well  knew  how  widespread  throughout  political 
and  intellectual  Austria-Hungary  was  the  hope 
that  the  House  of  Habsburg  should  at  some  un- 
distant  day  re-enter  into  the  chieftaincy  of  the 
Germanic  Powers;  was  well  aware  with  what 
scorn  and  contempt  the  Austrian  nobles  and  the 
old  territorial  magnates  looked  upon  the  upstart 
House  of  Hohenzollern — a  tribe  which,  even 
Bismarck  himself  conceded,  was  not  superior  in 
origin  to  his  own  ancient  line  of  squirearchs ;  was 
acquainted  by  his  secret  informants  that  a 
common  toast  at  every  mess-table  throughout  the 
imperial  army  was  expressed  daily  in  the  words  : 
"  To  Rudolph,  Emperor  of  Germany  !  "  ;  that  one 
of  the  first  great  diplomatists  of  his  age — the  then 
Prince  of  Wales — was  entirely  in  sympathy  with 
the  Archduke's  determination  to  detach  Austria 
from  the  Triple  Alliance ;  that,  in  fine,  the 
Bismarckian  system  of  Prussian  domination  in 
Europe  was  menaced  by  a  real  force  in  the  person 
of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Austria-Hungary,  who  was 
backed  by  the  sympathies  of  the  then  brewing 
Triplice — Britain,   France  and  Russia. 

It  is  with  this  momentous  political  crux,  and 
all  it  involved,  that  my  narrative  deals. 


CHAPTER  II 

Fears  of  Austrian  Landowners — I  possess  my  Uncle's  Confidence 
— Am  appointed  Imperial  Messenger — Join  Austrian  Embassy 
in  London — Oberon's  Lincolnshire  and  Gamecock's  National 
— I  return  to  Vienna  with  the  Archduke 

It  will  be  remembered  that  after  the  defeat  of 
France  in  1870,  and  the  accession  of  Confederated 
Germany  to  the  place  which  Austria  had  until 
that  time  held,  many  men  foretold  the  approach- 
ing break  up  of  the  aggregation  of  countries  over 
which  the  House  of  Habsburg  ruled,  prophesying 
at  the  same  time  a  period  of  revolution  within  the 
Empire.  It  was  not  surprising,  therefore,  that 
some  of  the  territorial  magnates  of  the  Dual 
Monarchy  adopted  about  this  time  the  policy  of 
converting  large  portions  of  their  estates  into 
ready  cash,  most  of  which  was  transferred  to 
England  and  there  invested  in  public  funds.  A 
certain  amount  of  secrecy  was,  of  course, 
practised  in  these  transfers,  which  involved  the 
passing  of  vast  tracts  of  land  into  the  hands  of 
new  men,  and  in  the  case  of  my  uncle's  properties 
around  Huttenberg  and  in  the  Trentino,  the 
proviso  was  established  that  the  rupture  of  entails 
should  only  be  disclosed  after  his  death;  in  the 
meantime  the  purchasers  were  to  occupy  their 
newly  acquired  demesnes  as  if  in  the  capacity  of 
tenants  only.     Possessing,  as  good  fortune  willed 

28 


AN  IMPERIAL  DISPATCH-CARRIER    29 

it,  my  relative's  entire  confidence,  I  was  chosen 
as  the  agent  of  some  of  his  money  transfers  to 
London,  where  at  that  time  Count  Karolyi,  our 
distant  kinsman,  was  acting  as  Austrian  Am- 
bassador. Between  the  time  of  my  arrival  at 
Vienna  in  1885,  and  the  year  1887,  owing  to  the 
kindness  of  my  late  father's  friend.  Count  Joseph 
Hoyos,  I  had  obtained  a  post  in  the  Austrian 
Foreign  Office  in  the  capacity  of  Imperial  Dispatch- 
carrier — what  is  also  called  King's  Messenger — 
a  busy  enough  office  at  the  time,  I  may  explain, 
since  the  affairs  of  the  Triplice  gave  couriers  plenty 
of  movement  passing  between  Berlin  and  Rome 
or  wherever  the  German  and  Italian  Courts  and 
Ministers  happened  to  be  in  residence.  Incident- 
ally, I  may  say,  I  was  the  bearer,  on  two  occasions, 
of  special  communications  from  the  Emperor  to 
King  Milan  at  Belgrade,  and  these  I  was  com- 
manded to  deliver  in  person  to  the  Servian 
monarch.  Once  again  I  presented  a  dispatch  to 
Pope  Leo  XIII. 

In  the  early  months  of  1887,  Count  Karolyi, 
in  view  of  stress  of  work  certain  to  arise  out 
of  the  festivities  connected  with  the  Jubilee  of 
Queen  Victoria,  solicited  the  Austrian  Foreign 
Office  for  an  additional  secretary  in  London,  at 
the  same  time  suggesting  my  name  as  one  who  had 
been  educated  in  England  and  knew  its  customs. 
This  suggestion  quite  accorded  with  the  financial 
transfer-operations  which  my  uncle  was  then 
conducting,  and  so  it  was  I  found  myself  installed 
at  the  Embassy  in  London  in  March  of  the  Jubilee 


30    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

year.  It  had  become,  at  that  date,  definitely 
known  that  the  Archduke  Rudolph  was  to  repre- 
sent his  Imperial  sire  at  the  celebrations  in  honour 
of  Queen  Victoria's  attainment  of  the  fiftieth  year 
of  her  epochal  reign.  For  all  my  connection  with 
official  circles  in  Vienna,  I  had  never  yet  been 
presented  to  the  Archduke,  though  I  had  duly 
passed  the  dais  at  the  Hofburg  before  Kaiser 
Franz.  Indeed,  I  had  only  seen  the  Crown  Prince 
twice  in  Vienna,  and  then  had  but  the  most 
fleeting  view  of  him  as  he  passed  in  the  Prater, 
driving  the  famous  phaeton  and  English  blue 
roans  with  which  the  Kinsky  stables  never  failed 
of  supplying  him.  My  first  meeting  with  the 
Archduke  was  to  come  about  in  a  manner  that 
was  far  from  ceremonious — indeed,  somewhat 
laughably  commonplace,  since  the  agents  of  my 
presentation  were,  of  all  people  in  the  world, 
the  special  detective  department  connected  with 
Scotland  Yard. 

In  the  make-up  of  Prince  Rudolph  there  was,  I 
must  state,  a  distinct  symptom  of  a  quality  which 
the  late  King  Edward  once  very  happily,  and 
within  my  own  hearing,  termed  "  Al-Raschidity." 
It  was  in  full  keeping  with  Rudolph's  radical 
and  popular  ideas  that  he  should  love  to  move  ob- 
servingly  among  the  masses  as  one  of  themselves, 
and  in  all  possible  circumstances  unrecognised 
by  them.  A  time  came,  however,  in  Vienna,  in 
Budapest,  in  Paris  and  (I  am  told,  for  I  have  not 
visited  Russia)  in  Petersburg,  when  the  very 
cabmen,   newsboys   and   policemen   all   came   to 


AN  ARCHDUCAL  TURFITE  31 

recognise  the  real  quality  of  a  very  distinguished 
Herr  Wittelsbach — his  assumed  name  when  intent 
on  Raschidian  adventure.  To  London  he  came 
frequently  enough ;  not  so  much,  I  am  certain, 
that  he  cared  for  London,  if  we  except  its  fair 
women,  as  because  here  lived  his  temperamental 
and  political  affinity,  the  then  Prince  of  Wales. 
The  Archduke  was,  it  will  be  remembered,  a 
highly  competent  judge  of  horses  and  a  speculator 
acharne  on  the  chances  of  any  animal  which  had 
won  his  fancy,  also  a  frequent  visitor  to  English 
and  French  race-courses,  although  I  had  it  once, 
on  the  authority  of  his  Chamberlain,  Count 
Bombelles,  who  had  especial  means  of  knowing, 
that  his  racing  balance,  except  in  one  year,  was 
deep  on  the  debit  side.  It  was  in  connection  with 
one  of  these  periodical  racing  visits  to  England — 
the  Grand  National  Steeplechase  of  1887 — that 
I  came  to  be  enlisted  in  his  service. 

The  Austrian  Embassy  was  housed  in  1887  in 
Belgrave  Square,  where  the  staff  of  attaches  were 
given  what  we  usually  termed  "  official  room  " — 
that  is  to  say,  rooms  were  at  our  disposal  if  we 
should  choose  to  use  them  when  not  engaged  on 
duty.  It  was  invariably  understood,  however, 
that  we  should  rent  our  own  apartments  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Embassy.  Mine,  I  well 
remember,  were  a  very  cosy  set  of  rooms,  not  at 
all  expensive,  situated  in  Sloane  Street  and  not 
far  from  the  residence  of  Sir  Charles  Dilke,  who 
had  in  those  days  won  a  considerable  notoriety 
from  some  personal  circumstances,  which  though 


32    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

radical  enough  in  their  nature  were  not  at  all 
connected  with  the  radical  politics  he  so  pro- 
foundly affected.  Here  I  arrived  one  Thursday 
mid-evening  towards  the  close  of  March,  the  day 
having  been  passed  in  dealing  with  certain  political 
documents  having  an  Austro-British  ecclesiastical 
bearing,  the  remaining  principals  to  the  affair 
being  several  Roman  prelates  at  the  Archbishop's 
House  in  Westminster — ^always  a  tedious  affair, 
since,  in  my  experience,  some  bishops  and  mon- 
signori  are,  as  a  rule,  verbose  and  affected  and 
as  skittish  as  old  virgins  in  treating  with  men 
and  matters  of  the  world.  My  servant,  Conrad 
Bratfisch — s.  cousin,  by  the  way,  of  that  Brat- 
fisch  who  served  the  Archduke  Rudolph  as  head 
coachman  and  who  was  with  him  on  his  Highness's 
last  visit  to  Meyerling — had  just  brought  me  a 
cup  of  coffee,  as  well  as  a  batch  of  mail  consisting 
of  two  letters  from  Vienna  and  another  bearing  a 
London  postmark.  This  last  letter  interested  me 
for  one  especial  reason,  and  that  was  because, 
being  largely  dependent  on  my  uncle,  I  was  far 
from  rich,  and  this  particular  envelope  disclosed 
a  cheque  for  a  trifle  over  £2500.  Its  sender  was 
a  well-known  betting  agent  called  Fry,  and  I 
became  possessed  of  this  very  opportune  specie 
in  the  following  way  : — 

One  of  the  then  Embassy's  many  visitors  was  a 
member  of  the  Kinsky  family,  representatives  of 
which  excellent  tribe  were  at  that  period  well-known 
figures  on  the  world's  Turf.  Our  Kinsky,  I  must 
say,  was  in  every  way  a  most  amiable  fellow,  had 


A  FIFTY-TO-ONE  WIN  3;3 

professionally    sponsored    me   on    my   arrival    in 
London  and  been  very  obliging  in  other  ways.     As 
far  as  I  remember,  he  had  spent  a  couple  of  years 
at  Oxford — it  may,  indeed,  have  been  Cambridge — 
and,  in  any  case,  he  was  a  whole-hearted  amateur 
of  the  English  idea  in  all  its  phases  and  forms. 
To  myself,  as  well  as  to  my  colleagues  in  Belgrave 
Square,  he  had  given  the  information  that  the  then 
well-known  Duchess  of  Montrose  expected  a  horse 
— Oberon  by  name — to  win  under  her  colours  in 
the  Lincolnshire  Handicap.     The  lady  was  very 
much    alone    in    her    belief   apparently,    for   the 
longest  odds  were  quoted  against  her  champion. 
Kinsky,   who    frequently   tiffined   with    me,    was 
insistent,  however,  that  this  particular  tuyau  was 
the  lineal  heir  of  all  the  accumulated  certainties 
which  had  ever  won  since  horse  was  shod  with 
racing-plates.     An  amusing  youth,  with  a  talent 
for  argot  of  all  kinds,  he  counselled  me,  in  short,  to 
put  my  penultimate  shirt  on  Oberon.     Happening 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Charing  Cross  a  few  days 
before   the  Handicap   was   run,  I   called   on   Mr 
Fry's   agent  and   placed   a   fifty-pound   note   on 
Oberon  at  odds  of  fifty  to  one.     No  wonder,  then, 
at  my  interest  in  the  letter  which  brought  me  this 
pleasant  slice  of  luck,  as  the  English  term  it.     I 
was  setting  about  the  perusal  of  the  remaining 
letters  when  unexpectedly  the  door  opened  and 
Bratfisch  announced  : 

"  His  Excellency,  the  Ambassador,  sir,"  and 
my  chief,  Count  Karolyi,  entered  on  the  heels  of 
the  servant. 


34    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

This  visit  was,  of  course,  wholly  informal,  if 
you  like,  even  in  the  case  of  a  relative,  and  my 
looks  did  not  disguise  the  astonishment  I  felt. 

"  My  dear  boy,"  the  Ambassador  explained,  in 
his  official  yet  camarade  way,  "you  did  not,  of 
course,  expect  me;  but  I  want  your  services, 
and  at  once.  Rudolph,  Scotland  Yard  has  just 
informed  me,  is  in  England,  and  with  Arthur 
Potocki ;  they  arrived  yesterday  for  this  great 
steeplechase  at  Liverpool,  where  our  country  is 
represented  by  a  horse  belonging  to  Count  Erdody . 
They  are  quite  unattended,  and  in  these  days  of 
Anarchist  movement,  this  must  not  be.  How  the 
Vienna  police  should  have  failed  to  notify  us 
passes  my  understanding.  In  any  case,  you  must 
proceed  at  once  to  Liverpool,  where  you  will 
notify  the  Chief  Constable,  and  remain  with  the 
Archduke  until  he  returns  to  London.  You  have 
ample  time  to  catch  the  night  mail  to  Crewe  ; 
if  not,  you  must  take  a  special.  You  will  find 
our  Prince  incognito  at  the  Adelphi  Hotel." 

This  was,  of  course,  unexpected;  but  never- 
theless I  managed  to  catch  the  second  night  mail 
at  Euston,  and  arrived  in  Liverpool  an  hour  after 
midnight,  engaging  rooms  at  the  Adelphi.  Li 
this  noted  rendezvous  of  sportsmen  the  night  was, 
for  the  great  carnival,  at  least,  still  young,  and  the 
public  rooms  were  all  crowded.  One  might  have 
expected  the  heir  to  an  Imperial  crown  to  have 
retired  to  rest  by  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
This  was  not  Rudolph's  happy  way,  however, 
and  among  the  vigilants  at  that  early  hour  none 


KAISER  AND  CROWN  PRINCE        35 

was  more  alert  than  himself.  Men  I  noted  in  the 
crowd  who  were  as  well  known  at  Baden  and 
Homburg  as  on  English  race-courses — owners, 
patrician  and  plebeian,  trainers,  jockeys,  book- 
makers and  professional  backers.  My  card  was 
duly  conveyed  to  Arthur  Potocki,  with  whom  I 
possessed  but  a  shadowy  acquaintance.  He  well 
understood  the  purport  of  my  presence,  he  said, 
and  fully  appreciated  the  solicitude  of  Vienna's 
representative  in  London.  Under  the  circum- 
stances, however,  he  could  not  yet  mention  my 
arrival  to  the  Crown  Prince,  but  would  do  so  on 
the  morrow,  when  I  should  probably  be  presented 
— all  of  which  took  place  in  due  course. 

The      Archduke     Rudolph      was      unaffected 
amiability  itself  to  all  on  whom  his  eye  lighted 
gladly,  and   from   the  moment   he  gave  me  his 
hand  I  became  bound  to  him  by  a  devotion  that 
might,  for  its  sincerity,  have  sprung  from  a  genera- 
tion   of    intimacy.      With    his    Imperial    father 
there  was,  of  course,  all  the  gentle  courtesy  of 
the  prince  trained  to  kingly  attitudes  and  forms. 
A  close  observer  could  not,  however,  fail  to  note 
that  all  his  interest  passed  with  the  superficial 
smile  that  welcomed  the  stranger  at  the  Imperial 
dais,  and  rare  indeed  was  the  being  whose  person- 
ality touched  an  answering  chord  of  interest  in 
the  heart  of  that  self-centred  old  monarch.     With 
the   Archduke,   who   disguised   neither   his   first- 
sight  likes  nor  dislikes,  all  who  pleased  him  were 
made  to  feel  at  once  and  at  all  times  welcome  to 
his  presence.    He  was  at  this  time  in  his  twenty- 


36    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

ninth  year  ;  in  height  about  five  feet  nine  inches ; 
eyes  of  a  bright  blue,  complexion  high-coloured, 
nut-brown  hair,  of  a  carriage  distinctly  imposing, 
yet  with  a  tendency  towards  that  embonpoint 
which  also  characterised  Albert  Edward.  His 
voice  was,  as  I  have  said,  somewhat  guttural, 
baritone,  and  very  pleasant  to  hear;  his  gestures 
of  a  quick  French  rather  than  the  heavy  Teutonic 
emphasis  ;  altogether  he  resembled  a  gentleman 
of  the  French  type,  although  a  marked  heaviness 
of  feature,  accentuated  by  the  historic  Austrian 
lip,  told  the  story  of  his  Habsburg  origin. 

The  Liverpool  Grand  National  Steeplechase  of 
1887  marks  itself  in  my  mind,  first  because  the 
Austrian-owned  horse.  Too  Good,  failed  to  win  a 
large  stake  for  the  Archduke  Rudolph ;  secondly, 
because  my  own  modest  run  of  winning  luck 
declared  itself  in  a  highly  capricious  way.  The 
great  race,  I  remember,  was  won  by  a  steeplechaser 
bearing  the  name  Gamecock,  and,  if  my  memory 
serves,  a  French  horse  was  second.  On  leaving 
London  I  had  folded  in  my  pocket-book  some 
bank-notes  totalling  perhaps  £100,  and  these 
soon  passed  into  the  possession  of  professional 
layers  in  the  Ring,  for,  like  my  countrymen,  I  had 
placed  my  trust  in  Count  Erdody's  horse  and, 
indeed,  was  so  entirely  a  loser  on  the  day's  trans- 
actions that  when  our  representative  was  beaten 
for  the  big  race  I  found  myself  with  but  a  few 
gold  pieces  in  my  purse.  Coincidently  enough, 
there  was  entered  on  that  day,  in  one  of  the  minor 
races,  a  horse  bearing  the  name  Prince  Rudolph. 


THE    ARCHDUKE    RliDOLPH.    AGED    24,    1882 


A  GAMBLER'S  INSPIRATION  37 

What  chance  it  stood  of  winning,  I  did  not,  of 
course,  know,  for,  in  truth,  I  had  never  even  heard 
of  the  animal's  existence.  Yet  the  idea  came  to 
me,  as  such  inspirations  will  come  to  betting  men, 
that  this  animal  would  win — more  particularly, 
too,  because  I  was  at  the  end  of  my  funds.  And 
then  it  suddenly  flashed  upon  me  that  I  was  still 
in  possession  of  my  cheque  for  an  odd  £2500.  I 
confided  my  difficulty  to  Arthur  Potocki,  and  he, 
an  inveterate  and  superstitious  gambler,  advised 
me  to  explain  the  affair  to  the  well-known  book- 
maker, Mr  Davis,  who  at  once  recognised  his 
fellow-penciller's  cheque  and  credited  me  with 
its  value.  Strong  in  my  inspiration,  I  ventured 
the  entire  amount  on  the  horse  of  my  fancy ; 
judging,  too,  by  Potocki's  somewhat  protracted 
conversation  with  Davis — wiio,  I  may  say,  was 
under  no  illusion  whatever  as  to  the  quality  of 
Herr  Wittelsbach — he  also  invested  upon  the 
horse  for  both  the  Archduke  and  himself,  and 
when  the  horse  was  returned  a  winner,  and  I  saw 
my  cheque  multiplied  in  value  by  three,  I  also 
noted  an  unusual  satisfaction  on  the  faces  of 
my  distinguished  countrymen.  In  Vienna,  some 
months  later,  I  learned  that  the  Archduke's 
separate  winnings  on  the  horse  Prince  Rudolph  ^ 
totalled  nearly  £25,000. 

Like  most  men  of  the  world,  Rudolph  liked  a 
winner,  whether  in  horse  or  human  flesh,  and  the 
result  of  this  day's  speculation  was  that  I  entered 

^  The  records  give  the  age  of  this  horse  as  six  years.     It  was  trained 
by  L' Anson  and  ridden  by  the  late  Mr  "  Abington  "  Baird. — Editor. 


38    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

into  the  especial  favour  of  the  Crown  Prince,  who 
was,  moreover,  particularly  pleased  with  my 
fluency  in  both  English  and  French.  Count 
Karolyi  relinquished  my  services  at  the  Prince's 
behest,  and  I  returned  with  His  Highness  and 
Arthur  Potocki  to  Vienna,  where  I  was  installed 
as  personal  private  secretary  to  the  Crown  Prince. 
My  life  thereafter  began  under  new  and  splendid 
conditions  in  the  capital  of  Austria-Hungary. 


CHAPTER  III 

Secretary  to  the  Archduke  Rudolph — His  Fascinating  Personality 
and  Ability — Our  Visit  to  Berlin — A  Future  King  and  a 
Future  Kaiser — Prince  William  of  Prussia  and  his  Clique — 
The  Pan-German  Idea — Berlin's  Fear  of  Rudolph's  Popularity 
and  Prestige 

Almost  from  the  first  days  of  my  appointment 
to  the  service  of  the  Archduke,  I  entered  upon 
terms  of  the  most  confidential  intimacy  with  him. 
Indeed,  the  sincerity  of  my  devotion  must  have 
been  entirely  obvious  to  one  of  his  acute  sensi- 
bility in  such  matters,  and  I  can  now  truthfully 
declare  that  no  person  has  ever  won  from  me 
anything  like  the  affection  which  Rudolph's 
personality  from  the  first  fairly  commanded.  My 
position  with  regard  to  himself  imposed  upon  me 
a  very  strict  line  of  conduct  in  respect  of  all  out- 
side matters  and  personages — that  is  to  say,  I 
became  a  kind  of  alter  ego  of  my  master,  belonged 
to,  worked  for  and  lived  for  him  alone,  coming, 
almost,  to  regard  my  own  personality  as  one 
which  had  ceased  to  exist.  His  correspondence 
became  my  own  charge,  his  friendships  were  my 
friendships,  his  sympathies  and  antipathies  my 
sympathies  and  antipathies,  his  objects  in  exist- 
ence my  objects  in  existence — in  short,  his  will 
became  my  will.  That  such  a  total  self-effacement 
argued  something  of   a  negative  personality  on 

39 


40    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

my  own  part,  I  am  freely  willing  to  admit.  Over 
the  long  stretch  of  years  I  now  explain  it  to  myself 
only  on  the  ground  that  my  devotion  to  the  Prince 
transcended  every  other  sentiment  of  which  I  was 
capable,  and  I  remember  that  the  late  Lord 
Suffield,  in  my  hearing,  explained  the  unexampled 
devotion  of  the  late  Mr  Christopher  Sykes  to  Prince 
Albert  Edward  on  precisely  the  same  grounds. 
Love,  ambition,  pleasure,  the  pursuit  of  a  grand 
career,  even  family  affections — all  these  I  was 
willing  to  forgo  and  sacrifice,  had  he  demanded 
so  much  from  me. 

I  feel  bound  to  explain,  however,  that  the 
glamour  of  his  Imperial  position  counted  for  little 
in  this  complete  self-surrender,  as  against  the 
compelling  attraction  of  his  personality,  since  for 
many  generations  members  of  my  family  had 
served  at  the  steps  of  the  Austrian  and  other 
European  thrones.  So  dominant  was  this  personal 
magnetism  in  the  Crown  Prince,  in  all  circles  in 
which  he  moved,  that  I  often  doubt  if  Napoleon 
exercised  a  more  imperious  fascination  or  influence 
on  the  men  who  followed  his  prodigious  fortunes. 
Nor  was  this  all-compelling  mastery  of  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  moment  confined  to  his  own 
country  and  countrymen.  In  Berlin,  in  Paris,  in 
London,  in  Rome,  even  the  leaders  risen  from  the 
people  bowed  before  his  native  supremacy  and 
talent  and  admitted  the  presence  of  what  is  nowa- 
days termed  a  Superman.  In  that  admirable 
work  entitled  The  Last  Phase  I  remember  to  have 
read  the  opinion  of  its  author  that  Napoleon  had 


PRINCE  WILLIAM  OF  PRUSSIA       41 

been  "  wrecked  by  the  extravagance  of  his  own 
genius."  To  institute  any  comparison  between 
the  great  self-made  prince  and  the  Heir  of  the 
Ilabsburgs  is  not,  be  assured,  my  intention. 
Nevertheless,  these  words  often  recur  to  me  when 
I  think  upon  the  tragedy  which  removed  Rudolph 
from  the  world.  His  commanding  ability  had 
even  then,  in  his  untried  age,  been  sufficiently 
apparent  to  awaken  the  fear  and  envy  of  men 
who  feared  that  in  Rudolph  had  arrived  the  long- 
foretold  statesman-prince  who  was  to  restore  to 
the  Habsburgs  the  prestige  of  their  ancient  crown 
— the  restoration  of  real  Germany.  And  to-day 
I  am  more  than  ever  convinced  that  he  was  lost 
to  Austria  at  a  crisis  of  her  Imperial  fortunes. 

In  April,  1887,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  old 
Emperor  William  I.  had  made  a  partial  recovery 
from  one  of  the  many  illnesses  attendant  on  the 
senile  decay  into  which  he  had  already  fallen,  and 
even  then  it  was  a  matter  of  general  knowledge 
that  the  number  of  the  days  remaining  to  his  heir, 
Frederick  William,  was  also  cast.  The  Prince  of 
Wales  was  in  Berlin  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  and 
when,  as  the  deputy  of  Kaiser  Franz,  the  Arch- 
duke Rudolph  proceeded  to  the  Prussian  capital, 
in  order  to  offer  congratulations  to  the  reigning 
Emperor  on  his  recovery,  I  accompanied  him, 
I  was  in  due  course  presented  to  the  English  Heir- 
Apparent  and  for  the  first  time  met  the  Prince 
who  was  afterwards  to  play  so  histrionic  a  role 
on  the  theatre  of  European  history  under  the  title 
of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II. 


42    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

The  then  Prince  William  of  Prussia — Bismarck's 
rather  sorry  attempt  to  popularise  him  as  Prince 
"  Bill  "  never,  I  may  say,   got   the  distance,  as 
racing   men  put    it — was   a   year    younger  than 
Rudolph,  and  already,  to  even  untrained  observers, 
gave  evidence  of  that  capricious  quest  for  notoriety 
which,  far  more  than  any  real  ability,  enabled  him 
subsequently  to  impose  his  very  shallow  person- 
ality on  an  age  which  history  will  probably  call 
the  most  superficial  and  barren  on  record.     The 
personal   relations   subsisting   between   the   then 
Prince  William  of  Prussia  and  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Austria  were  publicly  supposed  at  the  time  to 
have  been  very  cordial  in  their  nature  ;  a  supposi- 
tion which,  I  can  say,  was  entirely  a  wrong  one, 
for  I  doubt  if,  in  the  record  of  the  world's  heirs- 
apparent,  two  princes  were  more  assuredly  born 
to  prove  antipathetic  the  one  to  the  other.     On 
the  Habsburg  side  you  had  the  perfect  man  of 
the  world,  intensely  popular,  highly  intellectual, 
sympathetic,  with  no  pretensions  to  a  godliness 
which  he  did  not  feel,  to  virtues  which  he  did  not 
practise,  or  to  talents  which  he  did  not  possess ; 
a  man  whose  arrival  in  any  capital  of  the  world 
was  always  a  source  of  interest  and  pleasure  to 
the  spirits  who  led  the  time.     For  all  that,  a  prince 
fallen   from   high   estate   and   shadowed   by   the 
tragedy  of  1866. 

On  the  other  hand  was  the  representative  of 
the  conquering  House  of  Hohenzollern  :  Prince 
William  was  a  young  man  whose  only  apparent 
gift  had  been  the  ability  to  recognise  that  great 


THE  ARTISTIC  TEMPERAMENT       43 

or  popular  talents  had  been  denied  him.  He 
had,  therefore,  every  observer  could  see,  studied 
out  a  pose  in  life  which  was  wholly  a  contradiction 
to  an  essentially  plebeian  and  commonplace 
nature.  This  pose — much  copied  in  many  circles 
— has  long  since  made  the  tour  of  the  world 
labelled  with  the  apology  that  it  is  the  expression 
of  the  "  artistic  temperament,"  and  has  not 
infrequently  made  the  fortune  of  charlatan 
exponents  who  impose  on  credulous  dullards 
incapable  of  seeing  beneath  its  inane  trickeries. 
It  is  based  mainly  on  the  cultivation  of  unfelt 
enthusiasms ;  its  chief  outward  expression  is 
a  forced  animation  of  feature  and  manner,  an 
affected  capacity  for  discerning  the  wonderful 
where  there  is  nothing  but  the  commonplace  ; 
a  fidgety  vivacity  which  at  times  touches  on 
the  convulsive ;  much  loudness  of  speech  and 
a  laboured  incisiveness  in  conversation  about 
nothing  which  requires  incision  ;  a  derisive  view, 
on  the  charge  of  "  philistinism,"  of  all  ordinary 
conventions  which  must  eternally  remain  the 
conditions  of  sane  social  life  and  intercourse ; 
a  copiousness  of  gesticulation  and  emphasis  where 
neither  is  expected ;  above  all,  the  perennial 
glorification  of  totally  unfelt  feelings  for  every- 
thing that  represents  the  objects  of  its  enthusiasms, 
whatever  these  may  be.  Over  the  long  decades 
I  remember  this  earliest  pose  of  Prince  William 
of  Prussia,  and  how  its  first  ebullitions  affronted 
and  antagonised  princes  and  noblemen  who, 
socially  speaking,  were  satisfied  to  be  gentlemen 


44    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

before  anything  else.  This  was  the  Prince, 
then,  who  represented  aggressive  Prussianism, 
strong  in  its  triumphs  of  1864,  1866,  1870. 

My  master,  Rudolph,  could  not  have  been 
termed,  I  must  say,  a  handsome  man,  in  the 
strict  sense  of  that  expression  ;  he  was,  neverthe- 
less, a  prince  of  the  utmost  personal  distinction, 
and  a  proof  thereof  lay  in  the  fact  that  he 
looked  more  imperial  in  private  dress  than  in 
military  uniform  or  regalia.  The  Prussian  heir- 
presumptive  was,  on  the  contrary,  always  in 
military  tenue,  while  his  countenance,  even  in 
society,  much  affected  the  Drohblick  ^  with  which 
all  German  officers  are  instructed  by  the  military 
code  to  becloud  their  sulky  faces.  I  have  often, 
during  my  frequent  sojourns  in  Berlin,  heard 
visitors  remark  upon  the  entire  lack  of  distinction 
or  nobleness  in  Prince  William,  and  have  myself 
often  wondered  that  so  plebeian  a  creature  could 
have  sprung  from  the  loins  of  a  sire  who  was  truly 
of  the  heroic  type.  I  have,  indeed,  seen  no  prince 
so  unfavourably  compare  with  royal  and  imperial 
congeners  as  Prince  William,  and  on  one  occasion, 
at  a  Hofburg  levee,  when  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the 
Archduke  Rudolph  and  the  Prussian  Prince, 
formed  a  trio  apart,  I  heard  my  kinsman,  the  old 
Due  de  Valen9ay  (Sagan),  make  a  perhaps  not 
very    original,    but,    under    the    circumstances, 


^  The  Diarist  leaves  this  word  untranslated,  and  we  know  no 
English  equivalent.  The  American  term,  "  to  give  one  the  steel 
eye,"-  comes  near  enough.  The  direct  rendering  is  "  threatening 
look.-- — Editor. 


AN  IMPOSSIBLE  LOVELACE  45 

apposite  enough,  remark,  with  reference  to  the 
awkward  yet  pretentious  attitudes  of  Frederick's 
heir  :  "Voila  un  triangle  dont  un  angle  est  bien 
obtus." 

The  attitude  of  the  Prussian  heir-presumptive 
towards  other  princes  of  those  days  was  one  the 
like  of  which  I  have  never  seen  equalled  for  its 
intermittent  phases  of  affected  modesty  and 
vulgar  arrogance,  just  as  his  moods  varied,  and 
at  the  same  time  for  its  strange  mixture  of 
mauvaise  honte  and  self-assertiveness.  Somewhere 
in  Scott  I  have  read  that  there  is  nothing  more 
ridiculous  than  a  pose  of  social  boldness  adopted 
by  a  bashful  man,  and  this  was  largely  the  im- 
pression which  Prince  William's  attitude  and 
demeanour  conveyed  to  those  who  observed  him 
in  the  days  when  he  was  heir-presumptive  to  the 
crown  of  the  Hohenzollems.  Of  all  the  Princes 
of  the  Blood  in  Europe,  he  was  certainly,  in  1887, 
one  of  the  least  popular  and  least  impressive, 
while  even  his  attempts  to  please  were  always 
marked  with  a  boorish  condescension  which  more 
than  one  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance  made  no 
pretence  whatever  at  resenting. 

Much  had  been  written  in  those  days  of  the 
favour  with  which  fair  women  looked  upon  him. 
There  was,  nevertheless,  no  truth  whatever  in  the 
many  stories  told  of  his  successes  as  a  Lovelace ; 
and  in  Vienna,  which,  owing  to  the  establishment 
of  the  Triple  Alliance,  was  at  that  time  socially 
very  much  in  touch  with  Berlin,  it  was  well  known 
for  a  fact  that  any  success  of  this  sort  would  have 


46    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

been   impossible,    since   nature,   which   had    been 
unkind  to  the  Prince  in  the  matter  of  the  withered 
arm,  had  hardly  been  more  liberal  in  other  respects, 
and  even  in  the  venal  coulisses  and  green-rooms 
of  Berlin  theatres,  the  mention  of  his  name  always 
evoked  from  notorious  women  a  recollective  simper 
suggestive  of  a  pity  which  was  far  from  akin  to 
love.     It  was  a  well-known  fact,  too,  that  in  his 
earher  days  his  body  servants  were  chosen  from 
one  of  the  several  institutes  for  afflicted  dumb 
males  in  Posen,  mostly  Poles  who,  even  had  they 
been  able  to  speak,  would  have  found  some  diffi- 
culty  in   regaling   Berliners   with   the   real   facts 
concerning  the  royal  and  imperial  torso. ^     In  any 
other   circumstances    I   should    long    hesitate    to 
touch  upon  such  particulars  ;    but  in  the  case  of 
one    who,    events    have    proved,    aspires,    of    his 
masculinity,    to    rule    the    world,    one    may    be 
pardoned  the  reflection  that  all  world  conquerors 
of  the  genuine  breed  were  men  who  embodied  in 
the   highest   degree   the   principle   of   the   sound 
mind   in   the  sound   frame — notably,   Alexander, 
Hannibal,   Caesar,  Napoleon,  each  of  whom  was 
of  a  more  or  less  formidable  athletic  mould. 

In  reality,  the  average  public  in  any  country 
are  as  children,  and,  fondly  or  stupidly,  believe 
that  kings  and  princes,  who  outwardly  treat  each 
other  with  elaborate  courtesies,  are  bound  to  one 

^  Mr  Price  Collier,  in  his  Germany  and  the  Germans,  aUudes  to 
the  physical  condition  of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  when  he  says,  in  effect, 
that  no  official  has  ever  seen  the  Emperor  in  puris  naturalibus 
and  been  allowed  to  retain  his  post. — Editor. 


AN  ANTIPATHETIC  PAIR  47 

another  by  ties  of  the  most  exquisite  brothcrliness 
and  friendship.     The  natives  of  my  own  Austria 
are  no  exception  to  the  rule,  and  just  as  in  Berhn, 
where    even    newspapers    of    repute    were    wont 
to   build  fantastic  political  air-castles  based   on 
the  "  loving  friendship  "  that  subsisted  between 
Prince    William    of    Prussia   and    the    Archduke 
Rudolph,  so  too  our  popular  Viennese  organs  of 
the  eighties  often  indulged  themselves  and  their 
readers  with  golden  fairy  tales  about  Rudolph's 
personal  regard  for  the  Prussian  heir-presumptive, 
as   he   was  known    until   the   death   of   the   old 
Emperor  William,  in  1888.     So  far  from  this  being 
the  fact,  it  is  doubtful  if,  at  any  time  before  I 
entered  the  service  of  the  Archduke,  there  was  a 
single  point  of  favourable  personal  contact  open 
to  these  two  princes  who,  as  I  have  said,  were 
at  that  time  about  the  same  age,  my  master  being 
by  one  year  the  senior  of  the  twain.     It  is  certain, 
in  any  case,  that,  for  my  own  part,  and  I  can  answer 
for  the  intimates  of  the  Archduke,  such  as  Count 
Potocki,  Hoyos,    Teleki,   Bombelles,    Widen,   no 
suggestion  was  ever  made  of  a  visit  to  any  capital 
that  should  bring  the  two  Imperial  heirs  together 
which  did  not  fill  us  with  some  kind  of  alarm  ; 
and  as,  moreover,  much  of  the  personal  diplomatic 
business  between  the  Courts  of  Vienna  and  Berlin 
was  executed  on  behalf  of  Kaiser  Franz  by  his 
son  Rudolph,  it  so  happened  that  the  meetings 
of  my  master  with  the  Prussian  Prince  became 
matters  of  considerable,  as  well  as,  to  his  Highness 
and  ourselves,  unfortunate  frequency. 


48     LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

Unluckily,  too,  about  this  time.  Prince  William, 
having  reached  that  stage  of  self-knowledge  which 
the  French  describe  by  the  term  conscience  de  soi, 
was  quietly  sizing  up  the  situation  as  regards  his 
immediate  personal  prospects.     It  was  well  known 
to  us  in  Austria  that  the  Hohenzollern  family, 
after  our  unfortunate  adventure  which  culminated 
at  Sadowa  in  1866,  definitely  regarded  themselves 
as    the    divinely    appointed    successors    to    that 
position  in  Central  Europe  which  had  been  held 
by  the  Habsburgs  until  the  opening  of  the  nine- 
teenth   century,    and    which    they    voluntarily 
abdicated    in    the    days    of    the    all-conquering 
Napoleon,  when  they  ceased  to  call  themselves 
the  chiefs  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.     Nor  did 
the  Prussians  confine  their  ambitions  merely  to 
the  custodianship  of  all  that  was  territorially  and 
politically  involved  in  the  idea  of  Pan-Germanism, 
of  which  principle  we  have  heard  so  much  within 
the  past  generation  ;  more  particularly  since  the 
fall   of   Bismarck  and   the  advent   to   power   in 
Germany  of  that  band  of  political  gamblers  whom 
anti  -  Prussian    Austrians    were    wont    sometimes 
to   term    the  Mommsenite    School.     Students   of 
history  will  not  require  to  be  told  that  the  Pan- 
German  mirage  was  not  at  all  unknown  in  Berlin 
in  the  days  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  that  after 
the  fall  of  Napoleon  the  statesman  Hardenberg 
had  once  fondly  dreamed  of  a  reconstruction  of 
the  Central   Germanic  powers  based   upon   that 
principle  and,  of  course,  at  the  expense  of  Austria- 
Hungary.     On  the  whole,  it  appears  now  pretty 


PRUSSIA'S  AMBITIOUS  PROGRAMME     49 

clear  to  me  that,  however  much  Prince  Bismarck 
may  have  sought  to  humiliate  and  enfeeble  Austria, 
he  had  never  seriously  conceived  a  Pan-Germanic 
Empire  governed  from  Berlin  ;  had  this  been  his 
ambition,  there  was  little  to  prevent  a  realisation 
of  the  dream  when  Prussia  defeated  our  forces 
in  Bohemia  in  1866,  and  even  Austrians  were 
astonished  at  the  moderation  displayed  by  their 
Prussian  conquerors  as  a  result  of  that  last  Austro- 
Prussian  conflict. 

The  modern  revival  of  Pan-Germanic  notions 
was  due  rather  to  the  militaristic  band  of  homunculi 
with  whom  Prince  William  of  Prussia  had  as  early 
as  1887  consented  to  drink  Briiderschaft.^  My 
master  the  Archduke  was  as  well  informed  as  any 
man  in  Austria,  and  personally  knew  many  of 
this  band  of  brothers  by  whom  Prince  William 
had  already  surrounded  himself,  and  the  names 
of  many  of  whom,  I  may  add,  subsequently 
appeared  among  the  members  of  the  Camarilla 
which  the  journalist  Harden  exposed  in  1907. 
That  their  main  objects  included  the  breaking  up 
of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire  and  the  reduction 
of  the  chiefs  of  the  Habsburgs  to  the  condition  of 
minor  princes  was  equally  well  known  to  us,  and 
it  was  with  the  object  of  defeating  the  aims  of 
the  "  Mommsenite  "  brotherhood  that,  from  the 
early  eighties,  the  Archduke  Rudolph  had  begun 

^  The  Diarist  does  not  translate  this  word.  The  act  of  "  drink- 
ing Briiderschaft,  or  Brothership  '■'-  among  Germans  is  a  kind  of 
social  confirmation-rite  by  which  the  principals  swear  to  stand  by 
each  other  in  all  possible  circumstances  and  at  all  times  throughout 
their  lives. — Editor. 


50    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

to  exert  his  overwhelming  influence  throughout 
Austria-Hungary  to  the  end  that  a  strong  political 
national  party  should  come  into  being,  having 
for  its  principle  an  Austrian  national  revival 
based  largely  on   popular  or  democratic  ideas. ^ 

It  was  not,  of  course,  to  be  imagined  that  either 
this  programme  or  the  source  of  its  influence  and 
inspiration  could  long  remain  unknown  to  the 
omniscient  and  all-observing  Bismarck,  whose 
agents  and  spies  abounded  throughout  Austrian 
dominions,  at  this  time,  in  numbers  greater,  if 
anything,  than  those  of  1866.  The  firm  grasp 
which  Rudolph  held  on  the  sympathies  of  all 
popular  parties  in  his  vast  heirship  was  seen  at 
once  to  constitute  a  grave  menace  to  the  plans  of 
Bismarck  as  regards  Prussian  hegemony  in  Central 
Europe,  as  well  as  to  the  militaristic  ambitions  of 
Prince  William  of  Prussia  and  his  school  of 
sycophants  and  politicasters. 

Here,  I  admit,  I  seem  to  be  guilty  of  a  contra- 
diction. I  have  said  above  that,  in  my  opinion, 
Bismarck  entertained  no  serious  Pan-German 
dreams.  In  my  own  view,  they  were  foreign  to 
his  ambitions  for  his  country;  nevertheless,  it 
was  his  often-expressed  view  that  political  stress, 
combined  with  the  westward  movement  of  Russia, 
must  eventually  drive  Austria  into  confederation 
with  North  Germany,  entailing  her  submission  to 
Prussia  as  the  head  of  the  Germanic  Bond.     This 


^  Austro-Hungarian  elections  of  these  days  certainly  bear  out 
the  statement  of  the  Diarist  as  to  a  national  revival  on  popular 
lines. — Editor. 


A  PRINCE  AND  HIS  JEALOUSY       51 

course  would  have  coincided  fully  with  his  hopes 
for  Prussia,  and  so  the  new  popular  movement 
in  Austria,  as  well  as  the  political  aptitudes  of 
Rudolph,  constituted  a  menace  to  the  Prussia 
of  his  ideals. 

I  think  I  have  here  clearly  shown  how  and  why 
the  Archduke  Rudolph  and  Prince  William  of 
Prussia  were  fated  to  be  naturally  antagonistic 
to  each  other.  Nor  were  their  antipathies  based 
solely  on  political  ideas  or  contingencies.  As  I 
shall  show  in  the  course  of  this  narrative,  the 
superiority  of  the  Austrian  both  as  a  man  and  a 
statesman  constituted  a  source  of  sore  jealousy 
above  which  William  of  Hohenzollern  was  totally 
unable  to  raise  his  narrow  and  envious  mind. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Prussian  Royal  Family — Intrigues  respecting  the  Succession 
— The  Crown  Prince's  Malady — The  Crown  Princess  Victoria 
— The  Heir-Presumptive 's  Attitudes — Albert  Edward  and 
Rudolph — A  Curious  Wager — Rudolph's  Opinion  of  Albert 
Edward — Albert  Edward's  Complaint  of  the  Press 

Already,  in  1887,  the  Crown   Prince  Frederick 
was  under  no  illusions  as  to  the  real  nature  of  that 
disease  which  was  in  so  short  a  period  to  put  a 
term  to  his  earthly  career.     The  sombre  vigils  of 
San  Remo  had  not  yet  begun ;  but,  if  my  recollec- 
tion  serves   me,  several  operations  had  already 
been  performed    for    the    removal    of    cancerous 
growths    at    the    root    of    the   tongue.     Doctor 
Mackenzie  had   as   yet   not   been   summoned   to 
Berlin,  but  the  visits  paid  to  the  Prussian  capital 
in  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1887  by  the 
Prince  of  Wales  had  more  to  do  with  the  con- 
tingency of  the  English  surgeon's  being  eventually 
summoned,  than,  as  was  commonly  supposed  at 
the  time,  with  the  personal  presentation  of  in- 
vitations to  the  Imperial  princes  to  attend  the 
Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria,  by  the  English  heir- 
apparent.     It  is  no  exaggeration  for  me  to  say, 
and  the  fact  was  already  well  known  in  Vienna, 
that   the   diseased    body    of    the    Crown    Prince 
Frederick  had  by  then  become  the  central  point 
around  which  raged  one  of  the  most  cold-blooded 

52 


FREDERICK  AND  HIS  HEIR  53 

and  tragic  intrigues   of   which   history   has   any 
record.     I  state  the  reasons  for  this  assertion  : 

In  the  first  place,  the  passing  of  the  old  Emperor 
William — virtually,    during    Bismarck's    lengthy 
domination,  an  amiable  and  picturesque  nonentity 
— was  well  known  to  be  a  matter  of,  at  the  most, 
a  twelvemonth.     The  aged  monarch  fully  realised 
that  his  son's  illness  was  of  the  gravest  nature. 
It  was  freely  said  in  Vienna,  as  well  as  in  Berlin, 
that  old  William  I.  had  seriously  listened  to  the 
suggestions   put   forward    by  Prince    William   of 
Prussia,  and  also  by  elderly  members  of  his  Court, 
whose  sons  were  intimates  of  the  Prussian  heir- 
presumptive,  that  he  should  counsel  Frederick  to 
abdicate    in    favour   of    Prince  William    himself, 
whose  youthful  energies  were,  it  was  urged,  better 
fitted  to  meet  the  political  difficulties  attendant 
on    the    growing    aggressive    movement    of    the 
Social  Democrats.     As  regards  this  position,  no 
one  outside  the  most  intimate  Court  circles   in 
Berlin  could  pretend  to  certain  knowledge.     Even 
my  master  the  Archduke's  knowledge  was  derived 
only  from    second-hand    sources ;     these    sources 
were,  as  a  rule,  however,  very  reliable,  for,  as  a 
result  of  the  strong  anti-Catholic  policies  pursued 
in  Bismarck's  Kulturkampf,  there  had  grown  up 
among   the    old    Catholic    territorial    nobles    in 
Prussia  a  body  which  was  distinctly  predisposed 
towards  Catholic  Austria,  and  it  was  from  im- 
portant members  of  this  body  that  the  Archduke 
had    learned    of   Prince    William's   endeavour   to 
procure  his  father's  abdication  in  his  own  favour. 


54    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

In  the  second  place,  there  existed  a  strong 
division  of  opinion  among  physicians  in  BerUn 
as  to  the  assumption  that  Frederick's  malady  was 
of  an  entirely  incurable  nature.  Many  held  that 
his  magnificent  bodily  strength  was  capable  of 
enabling  him  to  undergo  the  strain  of  a  series 
of  operations  for  excision  during  many  years — a 
point  of  view  which  alarmed  those  who  desired 
to  see  the  militaristic  Prince  William  on  the 
throne,  his  father  being  notoriously  a  lover  of 
peace,  an  admirer  of  England  and  altogether,  as 
a  soldier  of  well-tried  experience,  averse  from  the 
bloody  adventure  of  a  war  of  aggrandisement. 
A  remarkable  situation  arose,  as  a  consequence, 
among  the  prominent  medical  practitioners  in  the 
Prussian  capital.  On  the  one  hand  were  those 
who  came  to  be  known  as  courtier-physicians, 
men  for  the  most  part  who  placed  their  own 
personal  advancement,  professional  and  social, 
before  any  consideration  of  loyal  devotion  to  the 
doomed  heir  to  the  throne.  Sinister  influences, 
working  in  infamous  secrecy,  were  undoubtedly 
operating  on  the  petty  vanities  and  ambitions 
of  these  venal  creatures.  On  the  other  hand  were 
men  of  unquestioned  integrity  and  tried  experience 
and  ability,  who  placed  their  professional  honour 
and  talents  at  the  service  of  the  afflicted  Prince, 
supported  by  the  finest  loyalty.  To  some  con- 
siderable degree,  too,  the  political  and  social  world 
became  affected — that  is  to  say,  in  Berlin  of  1887 
there  were  those  who  desired  to  see  a  lengthy  reign 
of    an    Emperor   Frederick    for    all    the    fruitful 


TWO  CLEVER  PRINCESSES  55 

prospects  it  promised  ;  but  also  there  were  many 
who,  foresensing  the  spectacular  and  histrionic 
reign  of  an  Emperor  William  II.,  with  all  its 
exploitable  possibilities,  cared  not  how  soon  the 
actual  Crown  Prince  should  be — removed,  if 
necessary. 

Another  reason  may  be  looked  for  in  the  political 
abilities  of  the  Consort  of  the  Crown  Prince 
Frederick,  the  Princess  Victoria  (dite  Royal,  in 
England),  eldest  sister  of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 
Even  those  who  were  associated  in  a  minor 
capacity  in  diplomatic  affairs  may  recollect  that 
it  was  a  commonplace  of  chancelleries  and  political 
salons  that  the  intervention  in  State  matters,  in 
those  days,  of  either  the  Crown  Princess  Victoria, 
or  the  Danish-born  Tsaritza,  always  resulted  in 
important  diplomatic  moves  and  combinations. 
It  is  matter  of  too  much  note,  indeed,  to  recall  the 
fact  that  Bismarck,  a  firm  hater  of  the  political 
petticoat,  to  use  his  own  exquisite  phrase,  dreaded 
the  invisible  hand  of  the  Englaenderin,  as  he  called 
the  Princess  and  had  her  called  in  his  Press.  And 
as  Prince  William  had  served  articles  in  the  Friede- 
richstrasze  in  the  days  when  the  Chancellor  called 
the  tunes  of  Diplomacy  from  the  Tagus  to  the 
Niemen,  it  is  certain,  too,  that  the  Emperor-to-be 
had  drunk  deeply  at  the  fountain  of  his  old 
Mentor's  misogynism ;  for,  in  truth,  he  hated 
his  royal  and  imperial  mother  with  a  fervour 
that  might  well  have  burned  in  the  heart  of  the 
last  of  the  imperial  Caesars. 

Towards  the  sire,  Frederick,  the  attitudes  and 


56    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

airs  of  Prince  William  were  those  of  poorly  enacted 
toleration  and  contempt,  which  lost  much  of  their 
effect,  however,  owing  to  the  almost  ridiculous 
physical  contrast  between  the  two  princes — on  the 
one  hand,  Frederick,  a  man  truly  regal  in  every 
aspect  of  his  splendid  person ;  on  the  other, 
William,  a  tailor-made  poseur,  under  whose  in- 
evitable military  redingote  trained  observation 
easily  divined  the  padded  half-shoulder,  the 
wadded  breast,  the  helpless  arm,  and  noted  the 
barrelled  nether  limbs  which  bespeak  the  type 
that  shall  never  learn  the  manful  arts  of  horse- 
manship. No  one  could,  of  course,  and  for  a 
certainty,  say  what  the  nature  of  the  personal 
relations  subsisting  between  father  and  son  really 
were;  but  as  far  as  my  observation  allowed  me 
to  divine — and  I  witnessed  their  intercourse  in 
Berlin,  again  during  the  Jubilee  of  Victoria,  in 
London,  and  subsequently,  too,  at  San  Remo — I 
am  certain  that  they  were  always  of  that  sort  in 
which  a  laboured  courtesy  and  self-restraint  on 
the  part  of  both  actors  provide  the  measure  of  an 
elemental  antipathy  that  is  no  more  to  be  over- 
come on  either  side  than  would  be  the  action 
of  mutually  repellent  metals. 

Nor  did  Prince  William  forgo  any  opportunity 
that  ever  presented  itself  of  showing  publicly  the 
superior  esteem  which  he  affected  to  feel  for  his 
grandfather — I  say  affected,  for  it  is  doubtful  if 
into  the  shallow  heart  and  mind  of  that  self-centred 
prince  a  gleam  of  anything  like  real  discrimination 
of  a  considerate  kind  ever  penetrated  in  regard  to 


THE  OLD  EMPEROR  WILLIAM        57 

any  human  being  but  himself.  Had  the  opposite 
been  the  case,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
real  superiority  of  the  Heir-Apparent  as  a  man 
and  a  prince — for  in  those  days  there  was  only 
one  ruling  statesman  in  Prussia,  Bismarck — must 
have  been  most  obviously  apparent  to  him,  as 
against  the  entirely  negative  personality  of 
William  I.,  who,  to  the  very  end,  was  as  a  docile 
Abiturient  ^  in  the  hands  of  the  masterful  Chan- 
cellor. At  this  moment,  indeed,  and  in  view  of 
the  history  of  the  past  two  years  in  particular,  I 
feel  certain  that  history  will  record  the  removal 
of  the  Crown  Prince  Frederick  from  an  active  role 
on  the  theatre  of  European  politics  as  the  most 
disastrous  blow  dealt  to  the  House  of  Hohen- 
zollern  since  that  family  succeeded  in  forcing 
itself  upon  an  unwilling  hemicycle  of  time- 
honoured  dynasties. 

It  was  undoubtedly  a  fact,  and  herein  I  may 
claim  to  speak  from  positive  knowledge,  since  I 
was  the  sole  custodian  of  my  master's  correspond- 
ence, that  the  arrival  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  at 
Berlin  in  the  spring  of  1887  followed  an  unusually 
lengthy  exchange  of  personal  communications 
between  the  English  Prince  and  the  Archduke 
Rudolph.2  Such  communications  were  not  always 
entrusted  to  the  ordinary  mails,  I  may  say,  and 

^We  have  in  English  no  equivalent  for  the  term  Abiturient, 
which  really  means  a  high-school  student  who  is  about  to  proceed 
for  his  Matriculation. — Editor. 

2  This  fact  I  afterwards  ascertained,  when  sorting  and  re- 
arranging the  Archduke's  correspondence.  The  English  Prince 
was  already  in  BerUn  in  March  1887. — Diarist. 


1 


58    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

the  reason  for  this  was  that  Berlin's  "  letter- 
breakers  "  did  not  confine  their  operations  to 
their  own  capital  or  country,  but  operated  through 
secret-service  agents  all  over  the  Continent  and 
in  England — in  Vienna  as  busily  as  elsewhere. 
The  Archduke,  for  instance,  subsequently  made 
use  of  my  own  services  on  several  occasions  to 
convey  a  single  letter  to  Marlborough  House  or 
to  Sandringham,  as  to  the  nature  of  the  contents 
of  which  I  knew  nothing,  of  course,  but  which 
must  have  been  of  considerable  moment,  to 
necessitate  so  much  precaution  for  its  trans- 
mission. My  master  invariably  entrusted  ultra- 
confidential  communications  of  this  kind  to  the 
very  amiable  and  good-looking  Sigismund 
Rokososki,  the  Cracovian  Pole,  whom  a  large 
number  of  Londoners  and  Parisians  of  that  day 
will  not  fail  to  remember,  or  else  to  his  cousin 
Stanislas,  of  the  same  hospitable  tribe. 

At  all  events,  the  meeting  of  the  Heir- Apparent 
to  the  English  throne  and  the  Crown  Prince 
Rudolph,  which  took  place  at  Berlin,  soon  after 
the  Liverpool  adventure  of  which  I  have  told,  was 
one  which  had  clearly  been  prepared  de  tongue 
main,  as  they  say.  The  Crown  Princess  Victoria 
may  be  trusted  to  have  been  well  informed  as 
to  the  nature  of  the  intrigues  which  were  at  work 
with  the  object  of  keeping  the  succession  from  her 
husband,  by  hook  or  crook,  and  to  have  informed 
her  royal  brother  of  its  sinister  scope  and  extent. 
It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  her  exalted  rank 
would  have  permitted  of  such  friendships  among 


ENGLAND  THE  OBJECTIVE  59 

important  personages  of  the  Court  as  might 
have  enabled  her  to  learn  the  full  extent  of  the 
machinations  operating  against  herself  and  the 
Crown  Prince,  even  if  she  had  been  a  popular 
Princess  in  Prussia,  which  she  very  certainly  was 
not.  And  in  any  case,  the  vital  political  interests 
at  stake  concerned  the  future  of  Austria  much 
more  than  that  of  England,  as  far  as  the  most 
keen-sighted  might  at  that  time  have  been  ex- 
pected to  see  ;  though,  in  the  light  of  latter-day 
history — more  particularly  since  the  days  of  the 
Boer  War — it  is  now  easy  to  divine  that  among 
all  the  great  Powers,  England  was  the  nation 
which,  even  in  those  far-distant  days,  was 
especially  visee  by  the  militaristic  spirits  at  Berlin, 
then  laying  their  plans  to  capture  nothing  less 
than  the  mastery  of  Europe.  So  that  when  the 
Archduke  informed  me  at  Berlin,  in  the  spring  of 
1887,  that  the  meeting  between  himself  and  Albert 
Edward  had  been  mutually  arranged  in  order  to 
discuss  the  political  situation  arising  out  of  the 
djniastic  conditions  in  Prussia,  I  immediately 
decided  to  make  it  my  business  to  amplify  as  far 
as  possible  all  sources  of  information  which  might 
serve  the  interests  of  the  Archduke.  In  the 
course  of  this  visit  I  had  the  honour  of  being 
presented  to  Prince  Albert  Edward. 

Of  this  Prince  so  much  has  been  written  that, 
coming  from  a  foreigner,  anything  additional 
might  be  looked  upon  by  Englishmen  as  somewhat 
in  the  nature  of  an  impertinence.  Nevertheless, 
it  is  my  decided  conviction  that  English  statesmen, 


60    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

courtiers  and  others  with  whom  he  consorted  have 
not  paid  anything  Hke  a  tithe  of  justice  to  a  man 
whom  thoughtful  history  will  find  itself  bound  to 
call  one  of  the  ablest  of  English  monarchs. 
Whether  it  is  that  the  men  who  composed  his 
familiar  circle,  being  mostly  men  of  action,  found 
(or  find)  themselves  unequal  to  the  task  of  pre- 
senting a  true  picture  of  Edward,  I  know  not ;  but 
certain  it  is  to  myself,  and  to  friends  of  mine  who 
were  also  privileged  to  meet  the  Prince  on  some- 
thing like  terms  of  respectful  familiarity,  no 
extant  description  of  him  tallies  with  the  person- 
ality I  first  knew  as  the  Prince  of  Wales  and 
afterwards  met  as  King  Edward  VII.  Or  perhaps 
it  may  have  been  that,  accomplished  cosmopolitan 
as  he  was,  the  Prince  unveiled  his  real  self  only 
rarely  to  the  prominent  and  somewhat  insular 
Englishmen  who  formed  his  set. 

Indeed,  I  have  often  thought  that  the  favour 
which  certain  Jewish  notabilities  won  from  him 
was  due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  fact  that  they 
were  not  only  of  a  cosmopolitan  cast  themselves, 
but  that  their  houses  were  also  the  rendezvous  of 
the  most  distinguished  cosmopolitans  of  their  time. 
One  has  only  to  translate  the  word  cosmopolitan 
to  find  that  it  means  man-of-the-world  in  the  real 
sense  of  that  expression ;  and  this  character  above 
all  was  salient  in  the  personality  of  England's 
great  Prince ;  so  that  on  putting  the  term  in 
juxtaposition  with  that  other  characteristic  of 
insularity  which,  even  in  these  international  days, 
remains  the  boast  of  Englishmen,  one  arrives  at 


Photograph:  W  &  D.  Downey. 


ALBERT    EDWARD.    PRINCE    OF    WALES,   1887. 


AN  EXTRAORDINARY  BET  61 

something  like  an  explanation  of  the  reason  why 
his  immediate  cirele  failed  in  a  large  measure  to 
understand  him  in  such  a  way  as  to  present 
him  in  those  fine  traits  whieh  most  charmed,  as 
well  as  commended  him  to,  the  great  Continental 
notabilities  of  his  age.  With  regard  to  the 
Prince,  I  may  here  recall  that  on  the  occasion  of 
a  reception  given  by  Sir  Augustus  Paget,  then 
Ambassador  in  Vienna,  our  Kinsky,  on  a  visit 
from  London,  in  the  capital,  and  whom  I  have 
previously  mentioned  in  connection  with  Oberon, 
the  Lincolnshire  Handicap  winner,  approached 
me,  during  the  Imperial  quadrilles,  with  the 
following  somewhat  extraordinary  proposition  : 

"  I  will  make  the  following  bet  with  you,"  he 
said,  "  since  you  are  open  to  a  gamble.  You  will 
observe  that  the  British  secretaries  and  attaches 
are  represented  in  force  to-night.  Let  us  see  : 
there  are  seven  of  them  present.  A  thousand 
crowns  to  two  hundred,  that  if  I  ask  six  of  them 
what  constitutes  the  chief  reason  for  the  popularity 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  five  will  find  themselves 
unable  to  answer  me  in  a  sentence  which  does  not 
contain  the  word  tact  or  tactful.     Is  it  a  bet  ?  " 

I  was  interested  enough  to  accept  this  peculiar 
wager,  which  I  was  also  forced  subsequently  to 
liquidate,  for  Kinsky  won,  as  he  had  prophesied, 
five  of  the  questioned  six  having  fallen  for  the 
fateful  word.  Subsequently  I  regaled  the  Arch- 
duke at  first -breakfast  with  an  account  of  this 
harmless  speculation,  which  I  was  certain  could 
not  fail  to  amuse  him.     We  were,  I  recollect,  in 


62    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

temporary  residence  at  Laxenburg — where  my 
master  first  saw  the  light  of  day,  I  may  say — and 
my  story  of  this  bet  interested  him  so  much  that 
he  declared  his  intention  of  informing  the  English 
Prince  by  letter.     And  then  he  added  : 

"  No,  it  is  not  altogether  tact  with  the  Prince 
of  Wales.  I;  think  he  is  too  irascible  to  be  very 
tactful.  Situations  are  so  definitely  laid  out 
for  men  in  our  position  that  it  is  only  the  veriest 
blunderers  or  the  ill-intentioned  who  fail  to  be 
tactful.  He  has  always  been  my  good  friend,  and 
I  understand  him.  His  qualities  go  far  deeper 
than  tact,  which  is  a  surface  talent,  and  on  the 
whole  I  should  say  that  Princes  of  the  Blood  who 
are  lauded  as  being  tactful  are  simply  gentlemen 
and  act  as  such — nothing  more,  nothing  less." 

After  a  pause  he  added  reflectively  :  "  Do  you 
know,  those  Americans  have  an  expression  which 
exactly  explains  popularity  such  as  that  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales.  Out  there  they  would  call 
him  '  a  prince,'  and  in  America  to  say  of  any 
man  that  'he  is  a  prince '  is  to  confer  upon 
him  a  social  distinction  beside  which  the  Fleece 
would  seem,  in  his  opinion,  cheap  and  ridiculous. 
It  means,  of  course,  that  in  all  circumstances, 
and  at  all  times,  his  heart  will  be  found  to  be  in 
the  right  place,  and  in  the  case  of  our  Prince,  the 
title  would  most  fittingly  apply.  Nevertheless, 
it  is  a  feeble  enough  compliment  to  pay  to  a  man 
whose  main  title  to  the  consideration  of  his  age 
is  the  fact  that  he  represents  the  best  type  of  prince 
who  holds  that  all  things  pertaining  to  humanity 


THE  MEANING  OF  TACT  63 

should  also  be  matters  of  interest  to  himself. 
Wliat  is  the  phrase,  '  nil  humani  a  me  alienum 
puto ' — Horace  was  it  not  ?  And  believe  me, 
those  monarchs  of  the  future  who  wish  to  hold 
their  thrones  will  have  to  build  their  policies  largely 
on  all  that  is  implied  in  that  seemingly  trifling 
bit  of  philosophy.  It  has  guided  myself  not  less 
surely  than  Albert  Edward,  and  the  proof  remains 
in  the  fact  that  both  of  us  are  more  popular  with 
the  middle  and  democratic  classes  in  our  countries 
than  we  are  with  the  hereditary  families,  whose 
outlook  is  essentially  feudalistic  and  totally  anti- 
democratic.    You  know  this  yourself." 

In  the  sequel  we  were,  however,  to  hear  more 
of  Kinsky's  interesting  bet,  for  during  the  celebra- 
tions held  in  connection  with  Queen  Victoria's 
Jubilee,  the  Archduke,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
man's-party  at  Marlborough  House,  related  the 
story  to  his  royal  host,  who  received  it  with  that 
somewhat  phlegmatic  good-humour  that  socially 
characterised  him,  but  was  clearly  enough  not 
surprised  by  it. 

"  I  am  myself,"  the  English  Heir-Apparent 
explained,  "  rather  wearied  with  the  chronic 
application  of  that  term  to  my  modest  perform- 
ances in  public  and  elsewhere.  I  have  no  very 
clear  notion  in  what  the  quality  of  tact  really 
consists,  and  so  I  once  asked  Sykes  if  he  could 
enlighten  me.  Sykes  put  on  a  profoundly  in- 
tellectual look  and  thought  very  hard  for  some 
minutes  ;  then  he  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  a 
tactful  person  was  one  who  always  did  the  right 


64  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

thing.  This  did  not  quite  satisfy  me,  and  I  in- 
quired if  he  thought  the  term  had  any  moral  or 
intellectual  application.  He  replied  that  in  his 
view  the  term  was  purely  social  in  the  sense  in 
which  it  was  used,  that  it  involved  only  social 
talent  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  morality  or 
intellect  or  anything  else — which,  as  I  took  care 
to  tell  Sykes,  was  rather  a  tactless  explanation  on 
his  part,  and  so  I  gave  up  my  quest  for  en- 
lightenment. But  I  really  wish  the  newspaper 
writers  would  give  me  a  clearer  indication  of  what 
they  think  of  me,  or  what  is  thought  of  me  ;  in- 
deed, I  am  of  opinion  that  the  popular  papers  are 
always  most  foolish  when  they  deal  personally 
with  the  royal  family,  and  what  they  think  pleas- 
ing is  in  most  cases  the  reverse  of  pleasing  to  the 
objects  of  their  flattering  paragraphs." 

A  remark  which  I  think  still  applies. 

After  which,  I  recollect,  the  conversation 
turned  on  the  political  importance  of  great  inter- 
national dailies,  a  subject  in  which  my  master 
was  completely  informed,  for  not  only  was  he  the 
owner  and  part  editor  of  several  papers  at  home, 
but,  as  in  common  with  all  the  Habsburgs  he  had 
been  taught  a  handicraft,  his  especial  choice  of  a 
trade  had  been  that  of  master-printer.  In  all 
journalistic  matters  he  was  a  genuine  expert. 


CHAPTER  V 

An  Old  Acquaintance  in  Berlin — I  meet  Prince  Bismarck — His 
Friend  Orloff — Bismarck's  Secret  Agents — Rudolph's  Opinion 
of  Bismarck — My  Regard  for  the  Chancellor 

During  our  sojourn  in  Berlin,  I  renewed,  very 
unexpectedly,  acquaintance  with  an  old  school- 
fellow who  was  my  senior  by  a  few  years  in  the 
days  which  I  spent  at  the  well-known  Jesuit 
establishment  of  Feldkirch,  in  Austria,  one  of  the 
many  great  schools  belonging  to  the  Order,  and 
whence  I  had  passed  to  a  branch  school,  Stony- 
hurst,  in  England.  The  man  in  question,  Koinoff, 
a  Pole,  had  never  been  one  of  my  intimates,  and 
had,  indeed,  entirely  passed  from  my  mind.  It 
was  at  one  of  the  Berlin  Foreign  Office  receptions, 
just  after  my  name  had  been  announced,  that  he 
recalled  himself  to  my  recollection  as  having  been 
a  fellow-student  at  Feldkirch  some  twelve  years 
previously.  On  exercising  my  memory,  however, 
I  was  well  able  to  place  him  as  having  been  one 
of  that  well-known  type  of  Catholic  collegians 
whom  their  masters  are  wont  to  term  "  rebels." 
The  Minimes  of  Brienne  had,  in  liis  earlier  days 
at  that  establishment,  it  may  be  remembered,  so 
characterised  the  youthful  Bonaparte.  Koinoff 
had  proved  to  the  authorities  at  Feldkirch  so 
intractable  and  so  lacking  in  reverence  for  all  the 
principles  for  which  the  Jesuit  educational  system 
E  65 


66    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

stood,  that  on  more  than  one  occasion,  generally 
as  a  result  of  unusually  outrageous  conduct  on 
his  part,  and  after  undergoing  a  sentence  of  castiga- 
tion — popularly  known  in  the  school  as  "  stieger- 
ising  "  1 — it  was  rumoured  that  he  was  about  to 
be  expelled.  The  influence  of  an  uncle,  a  Canon 
of  Budapest,  secretary  of  the  Cardinal- Archbishop, 
proved  in  all  cases  sufficiently  strong  to  save  him 
from  the  ignominy  of  expulsion,  a  far  greater 
disgrace  in  Catholic  Continental  schools,  I  may  say, 
than  the  English  equivalent  of  being  "  removed  " 
from  a  collegiate  establishment. 

Indeed,  in  my  last  year  at  Feldkirch,  the  re- 
formed Koinoff  had  actually  been  received  into  the 
minor  Scholasticate  attached  to  the  institution,  a 
department  in  which  those  pupils  who  signified 
their  predisposition  to  what  was  known  as  a 
"vocation"  for  the  Jesuit  Order  went  through  a 
kind  of  preliminary  training  in  Jesuitical  discipline 
and  methods.  Some  years  afterwards,  when  at 
Stonyhurst,  Stanislas  Rokososki,  a  countryman 
of  Koinoff,  by  the  way,  informed  me  in  a  letter 
that  as  a  result  of  an  act  of  peculiar  villainy,  on 
his  part,  the  Feldkirch  authorities  had  put  the 
Scholastic  and  his  trunk,  early  one  morning,  out- 
side the  big  gates  in  the  St  Gall  Road,  prophesying 
all  sorts  of  misfortune  for  his  future  career  in  life, 
and,  as  far  as  the  Jesuit  Order  was  concerned,  at 
any  rate,  giving  him  a  first-class  anathema.     You 

^  As  in  English  schools  boys  speak  of  a  flogging  as  being 
"  horsed/'  so  the  pupils  of  Feldkirch  called  their  punishment  after 
Stieger,  the  servant  who  administered  it. — Diarist. 


A  NON-NATIONAL  CREATURE         67 

may  imagine,  therefore,  that  on  meeting  him  in 
Berlin  I  was,  at  the  very  least,  interested. 

The  fellow  had,  I  must  admit,  an  excellent 
appearance,  and  his  manners  were  above  reproach. 
He  possessed,  however,  a  combination  of  two 
features,  which  has  never  yet  failed  me  in  marking 
down  what  the  English  so  expressively  term  "a 
sharp "  :  his  eyes  had  a  distinctly  wicked  cast, 
and  the  fleshy  part  of  his  otherwise  straight 
or  Roman  nose  degenerated  into  an  unexpected 
tilt  upwards.  Genius,  the  psychologists  correctly 
inform  us,  is  often  enough  marked  by  the 
trait  known  as  eye-disparity;  but  the  com- 
bination of  strabismus  with  a  nose  such  as  I  de- 
scribe can  only  signify  a  genius  for  wrong-doing, 
baseness,  treachery  and,  altogether,  is  eloquent 
of  the  presence  of  the  entirely  amoral — in  my  own 
experience.  Koinoff,  like  many  Austrian  Poles 
known  to  me,  was  not  so  much  cosmopolitan  as 
non-national — meaning  to  say  that  his  hypothesis 
of  life  was  based  mainly  on  the  central  idea  of  the 
Roman  who  tabloided  the  history  of  the  Jewish 
race  in  the  succinct  phrase :  "  Ubi  aurum,  ibi 
patria  "  ;  and  as  my  capacity  for  detecting  the 
presence  of  a  Jewish  strain — aye,  even  to  remote 
generations — is  not  less  acute  than  was  the  ability 
of  some  of  those  old-fashioned  abbes  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  who  possessed  a  magical  gift  for 
nosing  out  Jansenists,  I  was  under  illusion  neither 
as  to  the  ethnical  nor  the  ethical  quality  of  my 
Koinoff,  and  realised  that  in  him  lay  every 
evidence  of  being  what  racing  trainers  term  "a 


68    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

fair  throw-back "  to  Israel.  I  was,  therefore, 
not  surprised  when  he  informed  me  that 
avuncular  influence  in  Budapest  had  procured 
him  a  position  as  attache  in  the  personal  service 
of  the  Prussian  Chancellor. 

To  have  been  a  personal  agent  of  Bismarck, 
when  that  statesman  flourished,  amounted,  as  I 
well  knew,  to  very  much  the  same  thing  as  to  have 
been  a  member  of  the  corps  of  bravi  or  spadoni 
during  the  hey-day  of  the  Borgias — that  is  to  say, 
the  limit   of   possible   performance  might  be   re- 
quired of  the  agent  by  his  principal.     The  personal 
agents  of   Bismarck  differed   from  the  ordinary 
or    extraordinary    secret-service    officials    of    the 
government,  inasmuch  as  they  drew  their  emolu- 
ments from  the  Chancellor's  List,  worked  in  his 
immediate    department    and    were    requisitioned 
mostly  for  work  the  nature  of  which  was  deemed 
to  be  of  too  profound  and  too  delicate  an  im- 
portance for  the  detectives  who  acted  on  behalf 
of  the  secret  police  bureau  which  became  so  in- 
famous under  the  notorious  Stieber.     Among  the 
personnel  were  men  of  nearly  all  Western  nation- 
alities   except    British    and    American.     Koinoff 
had  been  attached  only  some  six  or  seven  months 
previously,  and  not  long  enough,  it  was  clear,  to 
have    as    yet    realised    the   demands    which    the 
position  might  make  upon  him.     His  work,  he 
said,  consisted  mainly  in  precis  and  translation 
at  the  Chancellor's,  and  he  admitted  that  as  yet 
he  had  never  made  the  personal  acquaintance  of 
his  chief  employer,  but  was  serving  under  his  code- 


A   SECI^ET  SERVICE  AGENT  69 

master,  Petri.  During  my  dispateh-carrying  days 
I  had  learned  enough  of  this  functionary,  Petri, 
to  be  aware  that  he  acted  in  the  service  of  his 
chief,  Bismarck,  as  a  kind  of  master  of  promising 
novices.  Clearly,  it  seemed,  Koinoff  was  destined 
for  important  things,  provided  he  could  weather 
the  tests  of  the  probationary  period.  I  was 
not,  however,  particularly  pleased  with  the 
effusiveness  with  which  he  sought  to  welcome 
me  as  an  old  fellow-student,  and  made  some 
play  with  the  object  of  cooling  any  further 
enthusiasm  he  should  feel  inclined  to  show  a 
mon  egard. 

"  Feldkirch,"  I  remarked,  "  was,  of  course, 
the  only  available  Jesuit  school  open  to  Germans 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  Order  from  this  country. 
I  presume,  therefore,  you  meet  many  of  our  old 
schoolfellows.  They  were  numerous  enough  there, 
at  any  rate." 

"  All  Germans  look  alike  to  me,  to  parody  the 
vaudeville  song,"  he  answered  vaguely;  "and  I 
have  a  bad  memory  for  faces  which  do  not  attract 
me.  The  old  names  certainly  force  themselves 
on  my  recollection;  but  my  position  enables  me 
to  see  but  little  of  private  society.  Indeed,  I 
cannot  say  my  experience  of  official  Berlin 
encourages  me  to  remain  here,  and  you  may  see 
me  before  very  long  in  Vienna,  perhaps." 

"  Vienna  !  "  I  exclaimed,  with  some  surprise, 
reflecting  how  difficult  the  position  of  people  of 
his  irreligious  antecedents  must  prove  in  our 
capital.     "  No  question  of  returning  to  old  loves 


70    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

— ^the  Scholasticatc,  for  instance,"  I  added,  with  a 
little  malice. 

"  Don't  be  too  hard  on  me,"  he  returned ;  "  the 
scholastic  episode  was  a  case  of  force  majeure  on 
the  part  of  my  people.  You  would  be  surprised 
to  hear,  however,  that  Berlin  has  become  in  these 
times  a  kind  of  promised  land  for  the  ahhe  manque, 
and  Bismarck's  department  is  fairly  beginning  to 
pulluler  with  spoiled  priests.  Even  my  chief,  Petri, 
started  in  life  under  a  Cistercian  cowl,  and  in 
Austria  at  that." 

"  There  are  no  more  Cistercians  in  Austria 
outside  the  capital,  so  it  must  have  been  some 
time  ago,"  I  objected.  "  Their  last  settlement 
was  near  Baden — yes,  at  Meyerling,  I  remember." 

"  Meyerling,  Meyerling !  "  he  repeated  musingly. 
"  Petri  asked  me  a  day  or  two  ago  if  I  had  ever 
been  at  Meyerling.  No;  I  do  not  know  the 
place." 

"  It  is  quite  a  little  hamlet  in  the  hills,"  I  ex- 
plained ;  "  the  Archduke  has  a  shooting-lodge 
there."  And  at  that  instant  a  movement  in 
our  immediate  neighbourhood  indicated  the  ap- 
proach of  a  personage,  and  Prince  Bismarck  was 
announced. 

Previously  to  my  becoming  attached  to  the 
service  of  the  Archduke  Rudolph,  I  had  met 
Bismarck,  to  whom  I  had  presented  more  than  one 
dispatch  in  person.  Whatever  men  may  say 
against  his  name  and  character,  he  must  always 
remain  to  my  memory  one  of  its  most  charming 
personal  recollections,  and  to  the  end  of  my  days 


BISMARCK  AS  PRINCE  CHARMING    71 

I  shall  continue  to  regard  him  as  I  regard  a  select 
number  of  those  masters  of  school-years  who 
taught  my  youthful  and  somewhat  puzzled  ideas 
how  to  shoot.  Towards  his  own  countrymen 
whom  he  employed  there  was  much  of  the 
martinet  in  his  attitude,  and  very  few  of  the 
younger  officials  really  regretted,  I  imagine, 
the  debacle  which  took  place  in  his  momentous 
fortunes  a  few  years  later  on  his  dismissal  by  the 
Kaiser  Wilhelm.  Towards  foreigners,  including 
my  own  countrymen,  more  especially  English- 
men, or  even  men  who  like  myself  had  lived  in 
and  knew  England  well,  he  always  gave  the  best 
of  that  most  charming  personality  which  was 
ever  at  his  disposal  when  he  wished  to  please. 
On  my  previous  official  meetings  with  him  he 
had  accorded  me,  whenever  it  had  been  my  duty 
to  present  dispatches,  often  an  hour  of  his  valuable 
time,  discussing — and  he  always  insisted  on  speak- 
ing English — all  possible  conditions  of  English 
life — horse-racing,  fox-hunting,  English  public 
men,  London  newspapers,  and  the  various  repre- 
sentatives in  the  English  capital  of  the  corps 
diplomatique.  It  has  often  occurred  to  me  since 
that  these  conversations  were  not  entirely  dis- 
interested on  his  part,  for  on  my  once  afterwards 
narrating  to  my  master  the  nature  of  several  such 
chats,  the  Archduke  reflected  musingly  for  a  few 
moments,  and  then  exclaimed  :  "  The  old  fox !  the 
old  fox !  "  Pausing,  he  added,  in  his  kindly  way  : 
"  But  beware  of  that  old  man,  and  say  as 
little  as  you  need  regarding  myself  or  ourselves. 


72    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

He  is  the  most  fascinating  man  in  Europe  when  he 
wants  to  be,  and  I  am  not  surprised  that  you  are 
under  his  spell.  I  was  myself  till  they  cautioned 
me.  In  politics  occasionally  he  is  the  best  repre- 
sentative of  the  homo  homini  lupus  that  I  know, 
or  have  read  of;  but  he  is  always  the  vulpine — 
vulpes  vulpinissima,  if  ever  man  was." 

I  had  not  seen  the  Prince  since  my  arrival  in 
Berlin,  nor,  indeed,  since  shortly  before  my 
transference  to  Karolyi's  staff  in  London;  but 
his  memory  was  excellent,  and  after  a  few  words 
with  some  of  the  permanent  officials,  a  kindly 
glance  from  him  motioned  me  to  him,  and  I  paid 
my  respects,  not  altogether  unconscious  of  a  quick 
scrutiny  which  he  directed  at  Koinoff,  who  trans- 
ferred his  attentions  just  then  to  another  guest. 

"  Your  Crown  Prince  has  been  in  Berlin  some 
days,"  the  Prince  began,  "  but  I  have  not  yet 
seen  him.     You  leave  shortly  ?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  I  do  not  know  what  his  Highness's 
intentions  are,  sir,"  I  replied,  "but  I  do  not 
think  our  stay  is  to  be  a  lengthy  one." 

"  What  a  traveller  the  Archduke  is,"  he  returned, 
with  a  look  of  some  penetration,  adding  quizzically  : 
"  Of  course,  the  steeplechasing  season  has  finished 
in  England,  I  think  ?  " 

"  Your  Highness  seems  clearly  entitled  to 
know,"  I  answered,  with  a  smile  of  apprehension; 
"  but  I  believe  the  steeplechasing  season  has  just 
closed  in  England " 

"  And  so  you  will  not  return  there  just  now," 
he  interrupted,  adding,  with  mock  regret :  "How 


A  BISMARCKIAN  REMINISCENCE     73 

I  wish  I  had  the  Archduke  llu(h)lph's  oppor- 
tunities. He  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  go  every- 
where and  do  everything ;  they  remind  me  of  my 
lamented  friend,  Demetrius  Orloff,  whom  I  first 
met  in  Petersburg.     Have  you  met  him  ?  " 

I  answered  in  the  negative,  adding  that  I  had 
not  been  in  Russia. 

"  It  was  not  necessary  to  know  Russia,"  the 
Chancellor  explained,  "  to  know  Orloff.  He  had 
a  house  in  every  capital  in  Europe,  and  each  house 
was  at  all  times  in  readiness  against  his  possible 
arrival.  Sometimes  it  happened  that  he  himself 
was  not  quite  sure  when  he  arrived  in  a  city 
whether  he  owned  a  home  there  or  not,  and  fre- 
quently, as  he  walked  with  his  secretary  along  a 
well-known  street,  an  intuition  would  come  to 
him  that  he  possessed  a  bit  of  property  near  by. 
Then  the  following  dialogue  would  take  place. 
Orloff,  raising  his  melancholy  Muscovite  face, 
would  point  to  a  house  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street,  and  ask  his  secretary  : 

"  '  ^  qui  est  cette  maison  Id  has,  mon  ami  ?  ' 
"  His  secretary,  a  countryman  of  mine,  with  an 
atrociously  bad  French  accent,  would  put  up  his 
pince-nez,  examine  the  house  closely,  and  reply : 
"  '  Mais,  elle  est  a  fous,  monzeigneur.'' 
"  And  the  phlegmatic  Orloff  would  say  : 
"  '  Done  approchons  ;    entr-rons  ;    mangeons  un 
morceau;    huvons   une    houteille ;    pr-renons    une 
femme,  et — partons  en  Russie.^ 

"  Your  Archduke  reminds  me  much  of 
Demetrius,  and  has,  indeed,  the  best  time  of  all 


74    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

the  Crown  Princes."  And  then  he  added  quickly, 
with  a  mock  solemn  frown  :  "  But,  of  course,  I  do 
not  say  he  does  not  deserve  it." 

This  was  fairly  typical  of  Bismarck's  rather 
bourgeois  badinage  with  younger  men,  and 
occasionally  he  used  to  carry  it  to  extremes ;  as, 
for  example,  when  he  told  Sigismund  Rokososki, 
once  bearing  dispatches  to  him,  that  he  regarded 
Austrians  as  the  national  hermaphrodites  of 
Europe.  Although  a  Pole,  Rokososki  had  been 
brought  up  in  Vienna,  and  resented  the  aspersion. 
He  was  a  favourite  with  the  Prince. 

"  My  dear  young  friend,"  Bismarck  replied 
simply,  "  I  am  only  logical  in  what  I  say ;  I  was 
the  first  man  in  the  world  to  express  the  opinion 
that  there  are  male  nations  and  female  nations. 
The  pure-blooded  Teuton  races,  like  the  Prussians, 
I  take  to  be  the  male  nations ;  France  and  the  Latin 
races,  as  mainly  representing  the  Celts,  I  take  to 
be  the  females.  Those  Austrians  are  neither  pure 
Teutons  nor  pure  Celts.  I  therefore  call  them 
national  hermaphrodites,  like  the  good  logician  I 
am — voilii  tout !  " 

I  doubt  if  any  minister  ever  lived  who  spoke 
fewer  idle  words  than  Prince  Bismarck — that  is  to 
say,  outside  his  very  exiguous  coterie  of  familiars, 
such  as  Bohlen,  his  cousin,  generally  known  as 
"  B.  Bohlen,"  or  his  sons,  Herbert  and  William — 
the  former,  by  the  way,  a  natural  misanthrope 
and  by  no  means  the  snob  he  was  said  to  be — or 
his  wife,  the  "  sarcastic  "  Princess  who  counted  for 
much  more  in  Bismarck's  career  than  is  generally 


MR  BUSCH  OF  BERLIN  75 

known,  for  she  directed  the  intrigues  which, 
by  practically  depriving  the  Princess  Royal  of  a 
personal  clique  in  Prussia,  enabled  the  Chancellor 
to  defeat  her  policies,  which  were,  it  was  said, 
mainly  directed  against  himself  and  the  elder  son 
and  their  influence  at  the  Castle.  The  journalistic 
Hausfreund,^  named  Moritz  Buseh,  never  to  our 
knowledge  in  Vienna,  played  the  very  intimate 
role  with  Bismarck  which  he  is  said  afterwards 
to  have  claimed  in  the  voluminous  Memoirs,  a 
work  that  I  have  not,  unfortunately,  read.  In 
the  matter  of  sheer  aggressive  impertinence  as 
regards  quests  for  information,  however,  he  was 
capable  of  travelling  long  distances,  literally  as  well 
as  figuratively,  for  I  well  remember  his  chartering 
a  special  train  from  Berlin  to  Vienna,  in  November 
of  1888,  and  waking  us  up  at  old  Laxenburg  in 
the  early  hours  of  the  dawn  with  the  object  of 
inquiring  if  the  rumour  were  true  that  Kaiser 
Franz  contemplated  abdicating  in  favour  of  the 
Archduke  Rudolph.  Weilen,  my  master's  very 
intimate  friend,  and  one  of  the  most  notable  and 
well-informed  journalists  in  Vienna  in  those  days, 
dissuaded  me,  some  years  later,  from  reading  the 
Memoirs,  mainly  on  the  ground  of  their  un- 
reliability and  as  representing  what  Bismarck 
would  have  liked  his  Boswell  to  write  about  him, 
rather  than  what  Busch  should  have  written  in 
the  interests  of  historical  fact. 

I  repeat,  however,  particularly  in  the  light  of 

^  The  Diarist  does  not  translate  this  word,  which  means  either 
a  trencherman  or  a  friend  of  the  family. — Editor. 


76    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

after-events,  that  even  with  more  or  less  un- 
important persons,  like  myself  and  Rokososki., 
Bismarck  rarely  spoke  without  intending  that  his 
words  should  "  carry,"  if  I  may  use  such  an  ex- 
pression ;  for  he  rarely  wasted  words  with  ordinary 
persons  in  private  and  unofficial  life,  unless,  indeed, 
they  were  foreigners  who  were  likely  to  give  him 
information.  Hoyos,  who  had  served  in  Berlin 
and  knew  the  Prince  well,  once  explained  this  trait 
to  the  Archducal  company  by  saying  that  Bis- 
marck had  only  one  love — Prussia — and  that  he 
was  always  scheming  for  her ;  consequently  he  saw 
farther  than  other  men,  owing  to  his  singleness 
of  purpose  and  aim.  Once  afterwards,  in  London, 
I  heard  the  same  remark  made  in  almost  the 
same  words  about  an  Englishman  whom  modern 
history  has  much  honoured — namely,  the  late 
Mr  Rhodes,  and  the  man  who  made  the  remark 
was  the  explorer  Stanley.  The  latter  was  explain- 
ing to  a  party  of  men  how  Rhodes  had  refused  to 
take  his  advice  and  save  vast  sums  of  money  in 
the  construction  of  the  Cape-to-Cairo  railway. 
Stanley  counselled  running  it  by  way  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  with  the  car-ferry  system  ;  Rhodes  pre- 
ferred the  all-overland  route,  however,  a  policy 
which  involved  a  much  vaster  expenditure.  Some- 
one ventured  to  ask  an  explanation  for  Rhodes's 
decision. 

"  Well,"  replied  Stanley,  "  I  suppose  it  was 
that  Rhodes  saw  farther  than  other  men." 

And  the  words  took  me  back  to  the  days  when 
Bismarck  was  the  first  man  in  Berlin — some  said. 


AN  ARISTOTELIAN  IDEA  77 

the  only  one.  This,  however,  by  the  way  ;  for 
I  must  recall  what  the  Archduke  had  to  say 
when  Iloyos  told  us  in  Vienna  that  the  Prussian 
Chancellor's  prevision  exceeded  that  of  other  men. 
I  see  my  master  again  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  his 
right  arm  thrown  over  his  chair,  the  other  resting 
on  the  table,  and  remember  the  characteristic  look 
of  calm  reflection  as  he  gazed  at  the  heavy 
Habsburg  opal  ring  on  his  white  hand. 

"  Do  you  know,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  after  a 
pause,  "  I  never  look  at  Bismarck's  face  but  I 
think  of  Aristotle's  suggestion  that  it  would  not 
be  impossible  to  categorise  the  human  race  accord- 
ing to  the  resemblance  of  men  to  the  various  species 
of  animals  and  draw  reliable  deductions  in  that 
way  as  to  their  salient  characteristics.  Thus,  I 
never  see  a  bloodhound  but  I  think  of  Bismarck 
— the  deep-set  eyes  with  the  reddish  tinge,  the 
heavily  arched  eyebrows  with  their  suggestion  of 
weeping,  the  nostrils  drawn  taut  towards  the 
inexorable  mouth  and  the  pendulous  jowl.  Old 
Prince  Charles^  once  told  me  that  on  the  night 
of  Sedan  the  Chancellor  expressed  to  his  table 
company  the  philosophy  he  held  in  regard  to  war 
when  he  declared  that  the  vanquished  should 
be  left  only  eyes  to  weep  with.  Bismarck  is  a 
quick  drinker,  and  no  doubt  he  had  drunk  liberally 
when  he  uttered  the  phrase.  Like  most  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  Long  Lip,^  I  have  myself  not  been 

^  A  brother  of  the  old  Emperor  Wilham,  presumably. — Editor. 

*  Though  it  was  before  my  association  with  the  Archduke,  and 
I  did  not  hear  it  said,  he  once,  it  was  related,  in  very  congenial 
company,  with  excellent   humour,  explained   the   origin   of  the 


78    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

blameless  in  this  respect,  and  know  what  men  will 
do  and  say  under  the  persuasion  of  Bacchus  ;  but 
Bismarck  never  recanted — never  denied  having 
used  the  phrase,  which  has  passed  into  current 
story  and  may  be  taken  to  represent  his  phil- 
osophy in  the  matter.  Such  a  man  is  to  me  no 
longer  human,  but  animal — a  bloodhound  in 
human  shape,  and,  indeed,  all  his  conquistadorial 
successes  have  been  due  to  the  fact  that,  as  the 
French  say:  '  //  a  chasse  de  race.''  " 

Jokai,  who  was  present,  as  he  often  was  at 
the  Prince's  table,  quietly  interjected  the  word 
"  Stieber  !  "  which  in  reality  means  bloodhound, 
and  the  company  very  deservedly  approved  the 
Archduke's  bon  mot,  for  all  were  well  aware  that 
the  Chancellor's  chief  spy,  Stieber,  and  his  organised 
espionage  had,  far  more  than  Prussian  military 
genius,  beaten  us,  in  Bohemia,  in  1866,  and  the 
French  in  1870. 

All  this  recurred  to  my  memory  at  the  Berlin 
Foreign  Office  reception  on  the  night  on  which 
Koinoff  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  me,  and 
as  I  looked  across  at  the  giant  Chancellor,  voluble 
and  gesticulative,  surrounded  by  a  dozen  obsequi- 
ous officials,  I  could  not  help  reflecting  that  there 
was  much  in  the  Stagirite's  ideas  of  physiognomy, 
and  that  though  Bismarck's  admirers  spoke  of  him 
as  a  God-fearing  man,  there  was  that  in  his  face 

so-called  Austrian  Lip  on  the  ground  of  the  Habsburg  capacity 
for  deep-drinking.  The  bon  mot  immediately  passed  into  common 
currency,  and  to  be  a  "  Knight  of  the  Long  Lip  "  was  for  long  a 
well-known  phrase  in  gay  Viennese  society. — Diarist. 


"BLOOD  AND   IRON"  79 

which  betokened  rather  a  fear  of  man  and  gave  one 
the  key  to  his  policy  of  Blood  and  Iron.  Neverthe- 
less, I  found  it  hard  to  divest  myself  of  the  early 
regard  he  had  won  from  me  by  his  very  charming 
and  unaffected  condescension  to  one  of  minor 
importance. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Kulturkampf  in  Germany — Position  of  the  Cathohc  Body — 
Prussian  Official  Salons — Austria's  National  Party  and  the 
Vatican — Kaiser  Franz  Josef's  Life  Story — Rudolph's 
Rationalism — His  Ideas  about  Religion 

By  the  year  1887,  I  may  say,  the  aggressive  phase 
of  Bismarck's  Kulturkampf,  directed  against  the 
Roman  Church,  had  given  way  to  a  compromise 
throughout  Confederated  Germany,  based  prin- 
cipally on  the  co-operation  which  the  Catholic 
party  was  willing  to  afford  the  Chancellor  in  his 
fight  against  those  growing  radical  and  really 
anti-monarchical  forces  which  have  become 
known  in  history  as  the  Social  Democratic  move- 
ment. To  use  his  own  phrase,  Bismarck,  in 
imitation  of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.,  had  "  gone 
to  Canossa "  and  called  a  truce  with  those 
spiritual  forces  which  he  had  been  unable  to 
overcome  or  turn  to  his  own  political  ends.  His 
conceptions  had  been  the  same  old  conceptions 
which,  in  turn,  had  moved  Henry  VIII.  and  the 
Byzantine  Patriarchs  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  later  Louis  XIV.  and  Bonaparte — that  is  to 
say,  he  aspired  to  create  within  the  new  Con- 
federation a  Catholicism  akin  to  the  Gallicanism 
which  Louis,  secretly,  and  Napoleon,  openly, 
desired  for  France  ;  briefly  a  so-called  Erastian 
condition  of  affairs,  pure  and  simple,  in  which  the 

80 


WILHELM,  AN  ESPRIT  FORT         81 

Catholic  hierarchy  should  become  the  agents  of 
the  State,  and  the  Pope  little  better  than  a 
memory. 

Like  most  Lutherans,  including  the  chiefs 
of  Hohenzollern,  Bismarck  was  bitterly  anti- 
Catholic,  and  made  no  secret  of  his  hatred  of  the 
Vatican  and  all  it  stood  for.  On  the  triumphant 
conclusion  of  the  war  against  France,  in  1870,  he 
is  recorded  to  have  said  that  he  would  not  rest 
till,  as  far  as  Germany  was  concerned  at  least, 
he  had  shut  up  Roman  Catholicism  within  the 
walls  of  the  Vatican,  and  during  the  struggles, 
or  rather  the  persecutions,  attending  on  the 
Kulturkampf,  the  phrase  held  a  wide  currency 
in  Catholic  countries.  In  every  phase  of  his 
fight  against  his  countrymen  of  this  religion  he 
had,  it  is  very  certain,  the  whole-hearted  support 
of  the  old  Emperor  William,  and  Crown  Prince 
Frederick;  but,  above  all,  the  encouragement  of 
Prince  William  of  Prussia,  who,  as  early  as  his 
twenty-first  year,  had  among  his  intimates  (my 
master  often  assured  me)  begun  that  pose  of  an 
esprit  fort  which  always  finds  an  opportune  plat- 
form in  anti-religious  or  atheistic  movements. 
Some  years  before  the  time  of  which  I  write  the 
astuter  Chancellor  had,  however,  realised  that 
those  methods  which  he  had  perfected  for  the 
overthrow  of  material  forces  were  far  from  suffic- 
ing when  it  became  a  question  of  fighting  purely 
spiritual  forces,  and  like  the  great  statesman  he 
was,  the  Chancellor  knew  how  to  bow  before  con- 
ditions against  which  monarchs  and  armies  had 


82   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

thrown  their  might  unavailingly  for  two  thousand 
years — namely,  the  forces  of  Christianity. 

The  result  of  the  compromise  was  that  Berlin, 
which,  during  the  acute  phases  of  the  Kultur- 
kampf,  had  adopted  an  attitude  towards  Catholic 
clerics  far  more  emphatically  hostile  than  that 
which  marked  Paris  during  the  reign  of  anti- 
clericalism  immediately  preceding  the  final  dis- 
establishment of  the  Church  and  the  rupture  of 
the  Concordat  by  the  so-called  Associations  Act 
of  1906 — Berlin,  I  repeat,  social  as  well  as  political, 
acting  under  orders  expressed  through  an  extra- 
ordinarily well-organised  and  servile  Press,  made 
a  complete  volte-face  in  respect  of  its  attitude 
towards  the  Catholic  hierarchs  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Vatican  throughout  the  Con- 
federation ;  a  change  of  demeanour,  not  only 
welcome  to  the  astute  Pontiff  Leo  XIII.,  but  one 
which  he  was  quick  to  turn  to  the  advantage  of 
his  centred  and  ambitious  self  and  the  Church. 

Naturally,  I  saw  but  little  of  Berlin  official 
functions,  but  the  few  to  which  I  received  invita- 
tions, during  the  several  short  sojourns  which  I 
made  by  the  Spree,  when  carrying  dispatches  or 
accompanying  the  Archduke,  reminded  me  almost 
of  some  of  the  great  cardinalitial  salons  by  the 
Tiber,  thronging  with  the  flower  of  the  Curia's 
courtiers  in  multi-coloured  cassocks,  as  well  as 
the  fairest  women  of  the  Papal  nobility,  and  at 
which  receptions  I  used  often  to  pass  the  time 
counting  the  personages  that  were  not  draped  in 
frockery.     Cardinal-princes,    bishops,    monsignori 


ANGELS  AND  BIG  BATTALIONS      83 

and  nuncios  were,  at  some  of  the  ofFicial  gather- 
ings in  Berlin  of  the  post-Canossa  period, 
almost  as  numerous  as  the  glowering  heroes  of 
the  corps  de  garde,  and,  indeed,  often  struek  me 
as  the  only  human-faced  actors  in  these  some- 
what stilted  scenes  of  wooden-visaged  Prussian 
officialdom.  At  the  same  time  the  Vatican  was 
assuring  its  political  footing  in  the  Prussian 
capital  by  the  establishment  of  a  nunciature,  the 
directing  spirits  of  which  were  among  the  ablest 
representatives  whom  the  Curia  could  find;  so 
that,  much  to  the  disgust  of  their  "  predika- 
torial  "  brethren  of  the  cloth,  as  well  as  the 
Lutheran  bureaucracy,  Roman  influences  began 
to  play  a  busy  role  in  the  social  and  political 
affairs  of  official  Berlin. 

Now,  such  a  condition  of  affairs  was  by  no 
means  looked  upon  with  pleasure  by  the  growing 
national  party  in  Austria,  the  unofficial  leader  of 
which  was  the  Archduke  Rudolph,  and  I  will 
state  the  reasons  for  this.  The  Vatican,  how- 
ever much  it  may  lay  claim  to  be  on  the  side  of 
the  angels,  has  invariably  in  its  history  made  it 
a  sound  policy,  where  possible,  to  be  also  on  the 
side  of  the  big  battalions.  In  the  eyes  of  Rome, 
Austria  was  a  decadent  power,  and  in  the  opinion 
of  men  like  Leo  and  Rampolla  that  verdict  had 
been  long  since  confirmed,  not  only  by  the  battle 
of  Sadowa,  but  also  by  the  negative  role  which, 
from  1870  onwards,  and  the  rise  of  Prussia  to 
the  headship  of  the  Central  Powers  of  Europe, 
the  Dual  Monarchy  played  in  active  Germanic 


84   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

politics.  The  Catholicism  of  the  peoples  of 
Austria,  moreover,  is  not  of  that  blindly  fervent 
type  which  marks  that  of  the  purely  Latin  or 
Celtic  races.  It  is,  to  use  a  phrase  coined  by  a 
part-countryman  of  mine,  who  has  written  much 
on  historical  matters,  "  geo-political  " — that  is 
to  say,  Austrians,  and  I  include  all  the  peoples 
under  Kaiser  Franz,  will  accept  so  much  of 
Catholicity  as  adapts  itself  to  the  varying  con- 
ditions of  its  various  nations.  In  other  words, 
there  runs  throughout  the  Austrian  Empire,  in 
respect  of  its  attachment  to  Catholic  principles,  a 
strong  tendency  towards  a  type  of  Russian  Ortho- 
doxy, which,  of  course,  acknowledges  no  Papal 
authority. 

I  think  the  exercise  of  the  Veto  against  Rampolla's 
election  to  the  Papal  Chair,  in  1903,  was  a  very  clear 
indication  of  the  sentiment  I  mean,  for  if  that  Veto 
meant  anything,  it  meant  that  Austria  would  not 
recognise  a  Pope  whose  avowed  policy  towards  the 
Dual  Monarchy  was  one  of  denationalising  (or,  if 
you  will,  de-Gallicanising,  for  this  is  what  it 
amounted  to)  the  Church  in  each  separate  state, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  traditional  spirit  of 
Rome,  of  "  universalising  "it.  The  result  of  this 
would  have  been  to  break  the  influence  of  the  reign- 
ing, or  any  Austrian  Emperor,  whose  power  in  the 
Empire  was  bounden  up  with  each  separate 
nation's  attachment  to  the  House  of  Habsburg. 
The  creation  of  politico-religious  factions  in  the 
different  states  of  Austria-Hungary  would  have 
been  a  short  cut  to  disrupting  the  Empire;  and 


CONQUISTADORIAL  PRUSSIA  85 

this  was  the  dream  of  the  Sicilian  Pope-Elect, 
Rampolla.  It  is  now  no  secret  that  Rome  obeyed 
the  Veto  of  Kaiser  Franz  in  1903,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  she  was  presented  with  the  momentous 
alternative  that  if  Rampolla  were  installed  in 
the  Papal  Chair,  Austria  would  have,  as  the  saying 
went,  "  gone  into  Orthodoxy  " — in  other  words, 
refused  any  longer  to  acknowledge  the  spiritual 
supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  I  am  convinced  that 
only  small  minorities,  in  the  "  geo-political " 
system  mentioned,  would  have  refused  to  ac- 
knowledge Kaiser  Franz  as  head  of  an  Austro- 
Hungarian  Catholic  Church. 

Apart  from  the  anti- Austrian  bias  of  the  Curia, 
mainly  composed  of  native  Italian  ecclesiastics, 
Rome  had  seen  with  a  friendly  eye  the  rise  to 
power  of  an  overmastering  Prussia,  which,  by 
federating  the  States  of  Austria-Hungary  under 
its  aegis,  should  bring  about  the  disruption  of  the 
Habsburg  Empire  and  so  assure  her  ecclesiastical 
aims  throughout  what  are  now  the  dominions 
of  Kaiser  Francis  Joseph.  Moreover,  Bismarck 
had  much  to  offer  the  Vatican  in  return  for  a 
pro-Berlin  as  against  a  pro- Vienna  policy.  By 
putting  a  term  to  the  penalism  of  the  Kultur- 
kampf^  the  Chancellor  assured  the  new  German 
Empire  all  the  national  benefits  arising  out  of 
the  social,  commercial  and  political  prosperity 
of  a  strongly  domesticated  population  ;  above 
all,  a  certain  annual  accretion  in  numbers  from 
a  great  body  which  abhorred  the  doctrines  of 
Malthus   in    proportion    to    their   material    well- 


86   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

being.  Further,  the  Westphalian  and  Rhine- 
land  countries  of  Germany  are,  in  the  majority. 
Catholic ;  their  nearest  neighbour  is  Catholic 
Belgium.  Roman  gold  had  long  been  subsi- 
dising a  strong  Catholic  party  in  Holland,  and, 
to  cut  the  story  short,  the  Vatican  has  been  under 
no  illusions  that  Prussia,  as  the  directing  State  of 
Germany,  had  long  since  intended  to  lay  main 
forte  on  the  Netherland  twins.  In  fine,  Prussia 
was  doing  for  the  spiritual  power  what  the 
spiritual  power  could  not,  naturally  enough,  do 
for  herself.  This,  then,  was  the  logic  of  the 
Vatican  outlook. 

I  do  not  imagine  that  anyone  who  is  acquainted 
with  history  will  deny  the  evidence  of  consum- 
mate statesmanship  given  by  the  Archduke 
Rudolph  in  his  policy  of  counteracting  the  com- 
bination of  Prussia  and  Rome  against  the  Austrian 
Empire,  by  the  formation  of  a  strong  national 
party,  conceived  on  democratic  lines,  throughout 
the  Habsburg  dominions.  The  origin  of  this 
movement  was  due  wholly  to  his  own  initiative, 
as  well  as  to  his  realisation  of  the  fact  that  only  a 
Habsburger  could  have,  with  any  hope  of  ultimate 
success,  welded  from  so  many  various  nation- 
alities, mostly  unsympathetic  if  not  antagonistic, 
into  anything  like  cohesive  unity,  a  movement 
which,  in  my  opinion,  held  within  it  all  the 
potentialities  of  the  Tugendbund  of  1813  that  liber- 
ated Germany  from  the  yoke  of  Napoleon.  The 
creation  of  a  strong  imperial  nationalist  body 
within    a   multi-nationed    empire    like   the   Dual 


AN  BIPERIAL  MARTYRDOM  87 

Monarchy  was  the  sures't  move  against  the 
machinations,  spiritual  as  well  as  political,  which, 
Roman-wise,  were  seeking  to  retain  and  extend 
the  racial  divisions  in  order  that  Berlin  might 
govern.  Bismarck  himself,  for  all  the  splendid 
political  genius  which  was  his,  could  never  have 
federated  the  Austro-Hungarian  dominions  as 
we  know  them  to-day.  Only  a  Habsburger  could 
have  held  them  as  they  are,  and  proof  thereof  is 
shown,  even  to  our  time,  by  the  fact  that  it  is 
solely  the  personal  prestige,  as  a  Habsburger,  of 
old  Kaiser  Franz  which  has  enabled  the  Empire 
to  withstand  the  successive  assaults  of  Pan- 
Germanism  and  predatory  Jewish  influences,  both 
of  which — more  particularly  the  last-named — ■ 
were  based  mainly  on  a  calculation  of  the  spoils 
which  must  fall  to  the  agents  of  disruption. 

Yet  even  with  Kaiser  Franz  it  is  true  that  his 
ability  as  a  monarch  has  counted  for  far  less  in  the 
stability  of  the  Empire  than  a  certain  enduring 
pathos  which  has  invested  his  reign  from  the  very 
first — the  pathos  of  an  untried  and  inexperienced 
boy  succeeding  to  vast  dominions  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  and  in  times  of  political  turbulency  and 
stress ;  the  pathos  of  sinister  affliction  which  has 
hovered  over  his  throne  since  early  days  ;  the 
pathos  of  martial  catastrophe  and  its  humilia- 
tions ;  the  pathos  of  swift  bereavement  and  the 
final  pathos  of  old  age.  Personal  suffering  has 
done  for  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  what  glory 
in  his  lifetime  could  not  effect  for  the  most 
martial  of  his  ancestors,  and  without  the  black 


88   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

shadows  of  misfortune  which  called  forth  their 
sympathies,  his  statesmanship  would  have  availed 
him  but  poorly  against  the  soul-awakening  of  his 
many  peoples.  To  have  conceived  the  national- 
isation of  his  States  as  a  democratic  federation 
would  have  been  an  impossible  feat  for  his 
imagination  ;  to  have  understood  its  import, 
entirely  beyond  his  sense  of  the  actualities  of  the 
age. 

At  this  juncture  in  the  history  of  my  country, 
therefore,  the  most  portentous  figure  in  its  life 
was  the  Crown  Prince  Rudolph,  superb  in  health 
and  with  every  promise  of  a  lengthy  life ;  in- 
tellectually admitted  to  be  one  of  the  most  able 
princes  of  his  time,  and  certainly  the  most 
brilliant  of  his  years.  Like  the  majority  of  men 
of  those  days,  the  colour  of  his  mind  had  been 
strongly  tinged  with  the  darker  philosophies  which 
sprang  from  the  Materialist  schools,  and  inclined 
towards  the  verdicts  of  Rationalism.  Naturally, 
this  fact  was  not  allowed  to  pass  unmarked 
among  the  conservative  and  non-political  portion 
of  our  ecclesiastics,  who  stood  towards  their  more 
liberal-minded  Catholic  brethren  in  very  much 
the  same  attitude  as  the  Russian  Raskolnik,  or 
conservative  Orthodox  churchmen  stand  to- 
wards the  Stundists  or  liberals  in  religion.  These 
non-political  conservatives  were  in  a  minority 
throughout  Austria,  but,  as  often  happens  in 
affairs  in  which  the  Vatican  plays  a  part,  it  was 
a  minority  wielding  tremendous  power  and  exer- 
cising wide  influence  outside  its  own  immediate 


THE  HEIR  AND  THE  HIERARCHS    89 

circle.  Above  all,  it  was  the  wealthiest  section 
of  our  Catholic  body  in  Austria-Hungary  and 
possessed  a  strong  hold  on  the  devout  popula- 
tions of  the  agricultural  regions.  Towards  that 
growing  movement,  of  which  the  Archduke 
Rudolph  was  the  guiding  spirit,  the  conservative 
Catholics,  in  respect  of  the  hierarchy  and  clergy, 
at  any  rate,  by  no  means  disguised  their  senti- 
ments, these  being  very  much  the  same  as  those 
which  the  Church  entertained  during  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  towards  my  old  friend  and  neigh- 
bour (in  Italy),  Senator  Fogazzaro,  one  of  the 
leading  spirits  of  that  peculiar  cultus  which  goes 
by  the  name  of  Modernism,  but  which,  in  reality, 
is  only  a  kind  of  Pantheism,  with  a  thinking  God 
thrown  in. 

To  my  master  the  Archduke,  the  attitude  of  the 
hierarchs  in  Vienna  was  not  unamusing,  yet  I  am 
fairly  at  a  loss  to  describe  it.  Princes  and  great 
nobles  meet  with  extravagant  indulgence,  in  my 
opinion,  from  ecclesiastics  of  all  denominations ; 
more  particularly  so,  however,  from  the  ecclesi- 
astics of  the  Catholic  Church,  who  are  always  at 
elaborate  pains  to  make  themselves  "  solid  " 
with  people  of  rank  and  wealth,  and  I  have 
found,  in  every  country  in  which  I  have  resided 
long  enough  to  use  my  observation,  that  the 
lower  the  origin  of  such  ecclesiastics,  the  sharper 
their  genius  for  truckling  before  men  and  women 
of  the  great  world.  In  so-called  mission- 
ary countries,  where  the  agents  of  Catholicity 
are   fighting  for  a   footing,    this  is  —  perhaps  — 


90   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

excusable  enough,  but  it  is  precisely  in  Catholic 
countries,  yar  excellence,  such  as  France,  Belgium, 
Italy  and  my  own  country,  that  I  have  found  this 
particular  trait  of  the  Roman  cleric  reach  its 
most  insufferable  proportions.  Even  when  a 
student  at  the  academy  of  Feldkirch,  this  attitude 
of  our  reverend  masters  forced  itself  upon  my 
boyish  observation,  and  I  realised  that  sterling 
merit  among  pupils  of  middle-class  birth  never 
met  with  anything  like  the  approbation  which 
was  given  to  half  as  much  ability  and  effort  when 
displayed  among  the  noble  classes. 

In  justice  to  the  fellow,  I  must  say  that  it 
was  a  sense  of  this  inequality  which  turned 
the  above-mentioned  Koinoff  into  the  "  rebel  " 
he  became ;  for,  intellectually  considered,  he 
was  at  least  the  equal  of  the  best  of  the  Adler, 
and  socially  immeasurably  the  superior  of  many 
of  the  ecclesiastical  gentlemen  who  did  him  the 
honour  of  giving  him  the  benefit  of  their  half- 
baked  instruction.  I  fear,  indeed,  that  many  of 
the  large  armies  of  "  rebels  "  annually  turned  out 
by  clerical  colleges  may  justly  ascribe  their  in- 
tellectual attitude  in  after  life  towards  the  Church 
to  this  sense  of  having  in  earlier  days  been  dis- 
criminated against  by  men  who  take  on 
"  gentility  "  with  the  cassock,  or  who  want  to  be 
gentlemen  first  and  priests  afterwards — a  failing 
in  most  religions. 

The  Archduke  Rudolph,  as  most  people  in  his 
day  well  knew,  and  himself  made  no  attempt  to 
deny,  was  a  first-class  sinner.     He  was  especially 


"A  FIRST-CLASS  SINNER"         91 

strong  on  what  Arthur  Potocki  used  to  call  the 
"  middle  "  sms,  meaning — I  always  presumed — 
offenees  against  those  Commandments  whieh  are 
invoiced  half-way  down  the  Decalogue,  and  which 
deal  with  man's  relations  towards  woman — 
"  coverte  "  and  otherwise.  He  was  essentially 
what  Carlyle  would  have  termed  a  "  strong " 
man,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  so-called  Sage 
applied  the  phrase  to  Augustus,  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  who  had  three  hundred  and  sixty-five 
illegitimate  children,  it  will  be  remembered. 
Like  most  men  of  happy  fortunes  of  the  boudoir 
kind,  however,  Rudolph  rarely  expatiated  on 
such  matters ;  and,  indeed,  his  conversations,  even 
among  his  closest  intimates,  were  always  models 
of  decency.  The  only  remark  I  ever  heard  from 
him  which  bore  upon  subjects  which  are  often 
a  favourite  topic  in  gay  circles  arose  one  evening 
during  a  discussion  on  the  then  budding  science 
of  Eugenics,  when  he  observed  that  the  father  of 
that  system  was,  without  question,  the  enthusi- 
astic Senator  who  rose  up  in  the  Forum  and 
moved  that  an  enactment  should  be  added  to  the 
Statute-Book  giving  the  triumphant  Julius  Caesar 
access  to  any  woman  in  Rome,  and  he  quoted  the 
passage  in  point — from  Suetonius,  I  think. ^ 

When  official  ceremonies  at  Schcenbrunn  and 
elsewhere  brought  the  Archduke  into  contact 
with    high-placed    prelates,    the    demeanour    of 

1  The  statement  is  certainly  to  be  found  in  The  Twelve  Ccssars 
of  Suetonius.  The  fact  is  recorded,  however,  by  more  respectable 
Roman  historians,  and  is,  in  any  case,  authentic. — Editor, 


92   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

these  last  was  always  of  a  perfectly  correct  kind. 
With  ecclesiastics  of  less  powerful  position,  how- 
ever, their  attitudes  were  of  the  most  ridiculous 
mixture  of  courtly  reverence  and  ecclesiastical 
deprecation ;  and,  indeed,  as  words  fail  me  badly, 
I  can  only  recall  one  historic  episode  which  fits 
the  case.  Do  you  remember  when  another  first- 
class  sinner,  also  bom  in  the  purple,  Louis  XV. 
by  name,  once  held  his  first  Drawing  Room  at 
Versailles  after  an  illness  which  his  Court  had 
fondly  hoped  would  carry  him  off ;  and  how  the 
courtiers  almost  tumbled  over  themselves  in  their 
anxiety  to  pay  their  devoirs  and  congratulate  the 
monarch  on  his  recovery  ?  Among  them  was 
one  very  fat  bishop,  whose  mind  was  severely 
exercised  as  to  what  his  precise  demeanour  should 
be.  He  wished  to  give  expression  to  his  grief 
that  the  King  should  have  been  ill,  and  yet  he 
wanted  to  show  joy  at  his  sovereign's  recovery. 
The  very  reverend  courtier  therefore  com- 
pounded by  presenting  himself  effusively  at  the 
throne,  his  rubicund  face  suffused  with  a  broad 
and  jubilant  smile,  while  his  eyes  bubbled  over 
with  hot,  beady  tears — a  picture  which  proved  too 
much  for  the  King  and  his  courtiers,  who  all  broke 
into  giddy  laughter.  Any  encomiter  between 
my  master  and  the  minor  monsignori  of  Vienna 
always  reminded  me  of  that  picture  of  Versailles, 
from  some  eighteenth-century  French  chronicler. 
I  once  ventured  to  ask  the  Archduke  his  opinion 
of  religion  in  general,  and  he  answered  me  some- 
what in  the  following  way  : — 


RELIGION,  A   SOCIAL  NEED  93 

"  I  believe,  firmly  and  sincerely,  that  the  case  for 
Religion  is  eternally  proved,  and  that  no  secular 
movement,  as  long  as  the  world  of  men  like  our- 
selves continues  to  endure,  can  successfully  assail 
either  its  existence  or  its  claim  to  exist.  It  is  a 
social  necessity.  At  present  that  Religion  is,  as 
far  as  the  Caucasian  race  is  concerned,  the 
Christian  Religion,  but  I  am  far  from  prepared 
to  say  that  it  will  always  be  Christianity  in  its 
existing  form.  Yet  Religion  I  hold  to  be  an 
essential,  both  for  the  governors  and  the  governed, 
and  a  Religion,  too,  which  postulates  a  God  such 
as  we  are  now  asked  to  believe  in  ;  and  that  for 
the  reason  that  the  long  history  of  lay  moralities 
has  shown  beyond  any  possibility  of  doubt  that 
it  is  futile  to  attempt  to  teach  men  to  be  just  or 
virtuous  unless  you  suggest  to  them  a  super- 
natural Being  who,  possessing  all  such  attributes, 
is  entitled  to  hold  the  balance — to  judge,  to  reward 
and  to  condemn.  The  ethics  of  Rome  and  Greece, 
what  did  they  do  towards  humanising  either 
Rome  or  Greece  ?  Strip  the  Roman  of  his  law- 
sense,  in  which  he  excelled,  or  the  Greek  of  his 
speculative  and  artistic  notions,  and  you  had  a 
pair  of  beings  who,  in  many  respects,  were  not  so 
highly  civilised  as  the  earliest  races  that  inhabited 
Cfnton  and  Lahore,  when  the  line  of  civilisation 
first  began  to  travel  westward,  as  they  teach  us 
nowadays.  It  took  the  one-God  philosophy  to 
make  the  infra -man  into  a  human  being,  and  it 
required  Christ  to  make  him  a  humane  man  in  its 
ideal  sense.     In  other  words,  it  required  a  belief 


94   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

in  one  God  to  humanise  man  and  the  lesson  of 
Christianity  to  civilise  him. 

"  For  all  that  I  am  convinced  that  there  are 
few  real  believers  in  the  world,  and  that  the  great 
teachers  of  religion,  from  Paul  to  Aquinas,  and 
down  to  our  own  day,  have  had  little  or  no  belief 
beyond  the  conviction  that  what  they  preached 
had  the  effect  of  refining  the  intelligence  or  the 
soul  of  man — in  other  words,  made  him  respect- 
able and  self-respecting  ;  which  conviction  indi- 
cates, to  my  mind,  that  the  Psyche  of  the  Ancients 
and  the  Soul  of  the  Christian  preacher  of  the 
present,  or  the  past,  are  practically  convertible 
terms — that  is  to  say,  mind  is  soul  and  soul  is 
mind,  as  the  Greek  held.  The  most  we  may  say 
even  of  the  greatest  of  those  who  have  preached 
the  monotheistic  faith — for  all  others  are  negli- 
gible— is,  that  they  possess  hope,  simply,  and 
that  in  their  excess  of  hopefulness  they  confound 
the  sentiment  with  belief.  That  any  thoughtful 
man  really  and  sincerely  believes  in  his  heart  that 
there  exists  a  God  who  is  personally  interested  in 
him,  I  refuse  even  to  think,  though  I  will  freely 
admit  that  I  envy  the  state  of  mind  of  any  man 
who  can  truthfully  declare  that  his  convictions 
carry  him  to  that  length.  Given,  however,  the 
fundamental  teachings  of  Christianity,  which  are 
educative,  humanising  and  civilising,  it  must  be 
allowed  that  for  the  sincere  teachers  of  Religion 
even  to  hope  there  is  a  God — for  the  majority  of 
them  neither  hope  nor  believe — is  sufficiently 
good  grounds  for  them  to  urge  the  objects  of  their 


A  QUF:STI0N  of  belief  95 

pious  solicitude  to  believe  in  one.  To  that  extent 
am  I  a  believer  in  Religion,  and  my  convic- 
tion remains  that  it  is  only  to  this  extent  its 
most  intellectual  teachers  advocate,  or  have  ever 
advocated,  religious  principles." 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Vetsera  Family  in  Vienna — Their  Levantine  Origin — The 
Empress  Ehzabeth  and  Marie  Vetsera — "  Home-Day  ''  at 
the  Hofburg — Love,  ImmortaUty  and  a  Cross-Examination — 
I  discourse  to  my  Master  of  Love  and  "  Residual  Forces  " — ■ 
The  Archduke  and  Women — Confessional — Madame  de  Stael 
and  Napoleon 

The  Vetsera  family  had  a  peculiar  enough  stand- 
ing in  Vienna,  and  may  be  said,  by  the  social 
position  which  they  took  up  on  their  arrival  there 
in  the  eighties,  to  have  been  the  forerunners  of  the 
cosmopolitanisation  of  Viennese  society,  which, 
for  the  past  generation,  has  wrought  almost  as 
much  havoc  with  the  grand  monde  of  the  Austrian 
capital  as  the  introduction  of  financial  adventurers 
and  plutocratic  parvemis  has  played  in  the 
destruction  of  London  society,  and,  perhaps  even 
more  so,  that  of  Berlin.  As  far  as  I  could  gather, 
the  Vetsera  tribe  was  by  way  of  being  one 
of  boyar,  or  squirearchic,  origin,  which  had  first 
made  its  social  appearance  in  either  Bucharest  or 
Belgrade,  I  forget  which.  There  was  a  strong 
Near-Eastern  cast  in  the  countenances  of  its 
various  members,  and  the  Baroness  Helen  Vetsera, 
the  mother  of  Marie  Vetsera,  was  in  every  respect 
a  typical  Levantine  woman.  She  belonged  to  a 
more  or  less  celebrated  family  of  wealth,  known 
by  the  name  of  Baltazzi,  and  it  was  one  of  her 

96 


THE  EMPRESS  ELIZABETH  97 

two  brothers,  Aristicles  Baltazzi,  I  think,  who 
first  came  into  note  as  an  international  sportsman 
by  winning  the  English  Derby  of  1876  with  a 
horse  called  Kisber,  an  animal  which  receives  due 
mention  by  writers  of  note  who  witnessed  its 
performances — Sir  George  Chetwynd,  for  instance, 
and  the  well-known  trainer,  Porter  of  Kingsclere. 
It  was  currently  stated  m  Vienna  that  the  earliest 
origin  of  the  fortunes  of  the  family  was  due  to  the 
good  fortunes  of  an  officer  in  the  palace  of  one 
of  the  Sultans  of  a  previous  age,  and  in  view  of 
the  subsequent  fate  of  a  daughter  of  this  house, 
the  suggestive  coincidence  has  been  of  more  than 
superficial  interest  to  me.  The  name  Baltazzi 
has  obviously  a  Graeco-Jewish  smack. 

As  most  people  are  well  aware,  the  Empress 
Elizabeth  was  passionately  devoted  to  all  matters 
associated  with  Greece,  and  the  men  and  women 
of  that  sediment  of  a  nation  always  made  a 
peculiar  appeal  to  the  hyper-emotional  mother  of 
the  Archduke  Rudolph.  Many  of  those  who  were 
prominent  in  her  personal  entourage  were  Greek 
men  and  women  ;  some  of  her  ladies  of  honour, 
one  of  her  private  secretaries,  her  favourite 
reader,  were  all  Levantine  Greeks  whose  presence 
as  a  subfusc  breed  much  antagonised  members 
of  the  pure  white  Viennese  aristocracy.  At  some 
Drawing  Room  or  other,  held  in  Vienna,  at 
which  the  Empress  was  present,  Madame  Vet  sera 
attended,  with  her  daughter,  then  just  out,  whose 
appearance  at  once  caught  the  notice  of  the 
consort  of  Kaiser  Franz,  and,  as  was  usually  the 


98   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

case  when  her  sentiments  became  engaged,  the 
august  lady  invited  the  young  debutante  to  join 
her  personal  circle.  In  Vienna  in  those  days 
Monday  was  always  known  among  the  Imperial 
family  as  "  Home-Day  " — that  is  to  say,  it  was  the 
weekly  occasion  set  aside  for  a  reunion  of  all 
those  members  of  the  Habsburg  tribe  who  should 
then  be  in  Vienna,  and  so  great  was  the  sense  of 
family  and  alliance  running  through  this  practical 
clan  that  Kaiser  Franz  rarely  presided  at  any- 
thing less  than  a  full  table.  Incidentally,  I  may 
say,  in  order  to  indicate  how  little  difference 
there  is  between  one  class  of  servant  and  another, 
Monday  was  always  my  own  "  day  off."  Then, 
unless  we  happened  to  be  travelling,  I  rarely  saw 
my  master  after  first-breakfast,  for  he  too  had 
the  family  spirit  to  the  full,  and  gave  up  Mondays 
to  his  Imperial  parents.  It  was  on  the  occasion 
of  one  of  these  gatherings  that  he  met  the  youth- 
ful Marie  Vetsera,  the  last  days  of  whom  were 
to  be  so  fatefully  linked  with  his  own. 

Now  my  own  ideas  about  Love  and  Life  are, 
perhaps,  somewhat  bizarre  or  fantastic,  and  I 
do  not  suppose  for  a  moment  that  many  people 
will  agree  with  them.  I  state  them  here,  not,  of 
course,  because  they  are  mine,  but  simply  because 
my  master  and  myself  once  discovered  that  our 
views  coincided  on  the  same  subject.  To  myself, 
the  principle  involved  in  the  idea  of  Immortality 
is  far  more  clearly — I  had  better  say  plausibly — 
pointed  by  the  forces  which  operate  in  what  we 
call  Love  than  by  any  other  condition  of  the  soul 


SOUL  VERSUS  MIND  99 

or  mind  that  I  am  aware  of.  Most  men  in  their 
time,  and  most  women,  for  tliat  matter,  undergo 
the  experience  of  meeting  members  of  the  opposite 
sex  in  whom  they  recognise  at  least  a  potential 
affinity,  or,  if  you  prefer  it,  towards  whom  they 
are  at  once  attracted,  the  process  not  being,  of 
course,  confined  to  opposite  sexes,  for  men  feel 
attracted  towards  men,  just  as  women  are 
occasionally  attracted  towards  members  of  their 
own  sex,  with  feelings  of  real  friendship  and 
camaraderie.  I  am  not  a  very  firm  believer  in 
what  is  called  the  Soul  as  apart  from  the  Mind — 
that  is  to  say,  in  that  matter  I  am  rather  a  Greek, 
and  do  not  attempt  to  differentiate — beyond  this 
important  reservation,  however,  that,  for  me,  the 
Mind  is  the  conscious  and  the  Soul  the  sub- 
conscious. 

The  sub-conscious,^  as  all  men  of  experience  will 
attest,  though  apparently  the  sleeping  partner  in 
the  combination,  is  by  far  the  more  effective 
force,  whether  in  its  active  operations  or  in  its 
passive  condition,  and  in  some  proof  of  this  I 
may  say  that  poets  and  literary  men  of  the 
higher  order  have  admitted  to  me  that  they 
work  by  virtue  of  what  the  Greek  called  the 
inner  spirit  or  daimon  within  them,  a  force  of 
which  they  are  only  conscious  in  the  fullest  sense 
at  the  time.     In   no  other  condition  of   life  of 

^  The  Archduke  used  to  say  that  he  could  best  describe  the 
working  of  the  sub-conscious  by  the  common  enough  act  of  un- 
consciously counting  the  hour-strokes  of  a  clock,  although  the 
mind  is  engaged  on  some  other  business. — Diarist. 


100   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

which  I  know  does  there  exist  this  dual  energy, 
one  component  of  which  has  the  faculty  of 
criticising  and  checking  the  operations  of  the 
other.  It  was  at  this  point  in  my  explanation 
that  the  Archduke,  when  we  discussed  the  matter, 
interrupted  me. 

"  Well,  where  is  your  relationship  between 
love  and  immortality  ?  "  he  inquired,  with  a 
narquois  smile  which  was  his  own. 

"  In  my  view,"  I  replied,  "  the  sub-conscious 
corresponds  to  what  is  called  conservation  of 
energy  in  the  material  domain — in  other  words, 
it  is  the  residual  spiritual  force  which  does  not 
die  and  which  carries  with  it  through  all  time  the 
memory  of  previous  conditions,  personal,  local 
und  so  weiter.  Accordingly,  then,  when  two 
persons,  male  or  female,  meet  in  such  a  way  that 
their  psychical  elements  come  into  play,  and  each 
reveals  to  the  other  a  liking,  an  attraction,  a 
desire  for  mutual  association,  then  I  maintain 
that  the  Soul  (or  the  sub-conscious)  is  simply 
picking  up  the  threads  of  an  ancient  fellowship, 
or,  I  might  say,  has  found  its  affinity."  ^ 

"  How,  then,  do  you  account  for  the  fact  that 
men  and  women  who  have  for  a  period  found 
themselves  reciprocally  very  attractive  cease 
very  suddenly  to  regard  each  other  with  love,  or 
even  liking  ?  "  my  master  asked. 

"  That,   I  should   say,"  was  my  answer,   "  is 

1  The  Diarist  has  not  hit  upon  anything  very  novel  in  this 
theory,  which  was  taught  by  Plato,  and  was  known  as  the 
principle  of  anamnesis,  or  previous  recollection. — Editor. 


AN  OLD  KELTIC  IDEA  101 

not  difficult  to  explain.  Indeed,  it  proves  my 
theory,  at  least  to  my  own  satisfaction.  It  is  just 
the  love  of  a  La  Vallicre  against  the  passion  of  a 
Montespan,  or  a  Maintenon  for  Louis  XIV.  In 
love  the  mental  attitude  is  everything,  conse- 
quently it  endures  ;  in  passion  it  is  a  matter  of 
physical  attraction,  and  if  your  Highness  will 
permit  the  expression,  passion  soon  becomes  de- 
polarised— the  circuit  soon  ceases  to  conduct. 
So  that  even  our  passion  must  be  menage  or 
economised." 

"  Profound,  very  profound  indeed  !  "  observed 
the  Archduke,  with  friendly  sarcasm.  "  How  old 
are  you  ?  " 

"  Twenty-five,"  I  replied. 

"As  you  have  reached  that  mature  age,"  he 
continued,  with  affected  loftiness,  "  then,  of 
course,  you  will  be  able  to  tell  me  what  happens 
to  your  *  residual  force '  when  life  leaves  the  body. 
ExpliqueZf  morhleu^' — a  common  phrase  of  his. 

"./'?/  ai  pense,  Altesse,^^  I  rejoined  somewhat 
sententiously,  recollecting  Talleyrand  on  a  less 
pleasant  occasion.  "  I  have  thought  of  that,  too, 
and  confess  myself  in  some  difficulty.  Your 
Highness  knows,  however,  the  old  Keltic  philo- 
sophy which  was  taught  in  pre-Roman  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  and  which  held  that  man's  thought 
was  identical  with  what  they  called  '  world-light.' 
The  central  idea  was  that  light  and  thought-force 
were  identical,  a  perfectly  plausible  and  workable 
hypothesis  which  your  Highness  may  allow  me 
to  expound  one  of  these  days.     I  often  think  that 


102   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

primitive  thinkers,  being  nearer  real  Nature  than 
ourselves,  were  more  likely  to  reach  unprejudiced 
and,  therefore,  truer  conclusions  as  to  things  as 
they  essentially  are.  Indeed,  I  see  ample  proof 
of  this  contention  in  the  fact  that  Thales  and  his 
brother  Physicists,  who  based  all  their  hypo- 
theses of  life  on  the  elements,  air,  earth,  fire, 
water — the  old  Keltic  idea — really  taught  all  the 
essential  philosophies  by  which  we  lay  such  store 
to-day,  simply  because  their  setting  is  more 
amplified,  more  recondite — I  really  cannot  find 
the  right  expression." 

"  More  complicated,  perhaps,"  the  Archduke 
conceded.  "  Yes,  the  human  mind,  which  hardly 
understands  the  obvious,  dearly  loves  a  puzzle. 
I  agree  with  you,  however,  and  I  think,  also,  that 
metaphysical  philosophy  is  a  fool's  science,  a  long 
process  of  travelling  in  circles,  which  leads  to 
nowhere.  But  you  keep  our  '  residual  forces  ' 
waiting.     What  of  their  fate  ?  " 

"  Well,  your  Highness,"  I  explained,  "  I  pin 
my  faith  to  the  '  world-light  '  theory,  and  this 
being  so  I  am  forced  to  conclude  that  such  forces 
as  I  speak  of  have  a  real  locus  in  the  mind,  and 
in  the  work  of  its  cerebral  functions.  An  idea  is 
not,  of  course,  stored  in  the  brain,  but  by  what 
a  Greek  would  have  termed  a  photismic  or  light- 
process,  it  is  always  available  for  reproduction 
when  the  memory  calls  for  it.  On  this  principle, 
I  can  properly  and  fully  explain  to  myself  the 
nature  of  dreams,  which,  I  may  say,  are  far  more 
varied  and  vivid  in  men  and  women  of  liistoric 


LUCK  AND  AFFINITY  103 

lineage  than  they  are  in  those  of  unancestral 
stock,  whose  lives  have  been  dull  and  uneventful, 
and  without  episode  sufficiently  arresting  to 
photograph  itself  on  the  brain-cells.  Accordingly, 
then,  I  maintain  that  my  residual  forces  return 
to  the  ether." 

"  To  be  logical,  therefore,"  replied  the  Prince, 
"  and  to  allow  your  affinities  to  meet  again,  you 
must  assume  that  all  beings  that  existed  in  any 
given  age  would  all  live  their  lives  over  again  in 
some  subsequent  age  and  at  the  same  time.  That 
is  the  philosophy  of  Tibet,  I  think  ?  " 

"  I  will  not  subscribe  to  anything  in  the  shape 
of  Mahatmaism  or  so-called  astral  influences, 
your  Highness.  I  think,  however,  that  the  rarity 
of  true  loves  and  true  friendships  in  the  world 
points  to  the  conclusion  that  psychic  affinities 
are  proportionately  rare  in  their  recurrence  in 
the  process  of  the  suns — in  other  words,  that 
only  the  lucky  ones  find  their  affinities.  Ordinary 
cases  of  love  or  friendship  are  cases  of  conveni- 
ence or  social  expediency,  and  both  physically 
and  psychically  they  indicate,  in  the  majority 
of  instances,  that  they  belong  to  overlapping 
series,  the  result  being  that  it  is  only  one  couple 
in  many  hundreds  of  thousands  which  ever  meets 
its  fellow-soul  and  is  happy  in  the  mental  and 
psychical  sense  to  which  I  allude." 

"  All  of  which  is,  of  course,  highly  empiricist, 
as  the  scholars  term  it,  and  can  be  argued  neither 
to  an  end  nor  to  a  purpose.  I  agree  with  your 
ideas,   however,   as  to  the   mind   and   the   sub- 


104   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

conscious  and  the  deductions  as  to  love  and 
friendship  which  you  draw  from  them.  I  dis- 
agree heartily,  however,  with  your  idea — inter- 
estingly stated,  I  admit — that  women  love  longer 
than  men.  That  is  certainly  not  the  case  in  any 
grade  of  life,  and  least  of  all  in  my  own.  I  doubt 
if  princes  are  ever  loved  for  themselves,  and  even 
if  they  are  they  never  have  the  satisfaction  of 
realising  it  by  any  possible  test.  You  mention 
La  Valli^re.  I  do  not  think  she  had  any  positive 
love  for  Louis,  which  was  not  primarily  based  on 
the  hope  that  she  would  one  day  share  his  throne 
— a  venal  love,  which  is  no  love  at  all  in  your 
sense,  but  rather,  as  you  say,  one  of  social  con- 
venience or  expediency  :  ambition,  in  fine,  which 
placed  herself  first,  in  reality,  and  the  King  in  the 
second  place.  This  she  would  not,  of  course, 
admit  to  herself. 

*'  Women  are  the  eternal  victims  of  self- 
delusion  ;  they  have  no  religious  sense  as  men 
have  a  religious  sense — that  is  to  say,  a  man  who 
really  possesses  and  professes  a  religion  feels  him- 
self bound  by  the  ordinances  of  that  religion; 
but  by  what  ordinances  will  a  woman  consider 
herself  bound  when  she  is  given,  say,  religion  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  not  the  man  she 
loves,  but  the  man  who  loves  her  ?  In  my  experi- 
ence, none;  and  before  her  desire  to  be  loved, 
honour,  f amity,  God,  conscience — all  may  go  to 
the  winds  of  the  wide  world.  The  Catholic 
Church  has  certainly  taken  the  proper  measure 
of  woman,  and  I  am  not  surprised  at  all  that 


A  QUESTION  OF  PSYCHOLOGY     105 

certain  learned  doctors  of  the  Middle  Ages  should 
have  discussed  seriously  the  question  whether 
woman  really  had  or  had  not  a  soul.  Consider 
the  Confessional,  however  ;  what  an  irresistible 
appeal  to  the  only  positive  quality  a  woman  can 
be  said  to  possess — vanity  !  See  how  beautifully 
it  works — both  ways ;  for  its  appeal  is  made 
equally  to  good  characters  and  to  bad,  and  the 
woman  who  leads  the  blameless  life  is  not  less 
anxious  to  advertise  her  dme  blanche  to  her  con- 
fessor, than  her  sinful  sister  is  to  show  him  what 
an  object  of  interest  and  unrest  she  proves  to  the 
sons  of  Belial.  I  am  far  from  declaring,  however, 
that  some  sort  of  spiritual  or  mental  relief  is  not 
derived  from  the  act  of  unloading  one's  mind  or 
conscience  of  perilous  personal  secrets  that  weigh 
one  down.  You  do  not,  of  course,  to  account  for 
this,  require  to  be  told  the  nature  of  the  psycho- 
logical process  which  is  here  involved." 

"  Auto-suggestion,  I  presume  ?  " 

"  Auto-suggestion,  of  course,"  replied  the 
Archduke,  with  friendly  vehemence  ;  "  and  it  is 
certain  that  the  inventors  of  this  particular  form 
of  sacrament  were  excellent  psychologists.  The 
principle  was  known,  you  may  remember,  to 
Eastern  nations,  and,  of  course,  you  recollect, 
from  your  nursery  days,  the  eminent  Oriental 
statesman  of  the  Fable  who,  finding  himself  un- 
able to  keep  State  secrets,  was  wont  to  whisper 
them  at  nightfall  to  the  cabbages  and  cauliflowers, 
and  so  relieve  his  surcharged  soul.  But  his 
political  enemies  eventually  got  on  his  track,  and," 


106   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

he  added  with  a  laugh,  "  the  poor  man  lost  his 
head  in  the  end,  I  think." 

I  ventured  to  ask  His  Highness  if  he  truly 
believed  that  the  principle  underlying  the  Con- 
fessional was  a  political  one,  and  that,  as  he  had 
said,  psychological  ideas  entered  into  the  original 
conceptions  of  its  value  as  a  political  instrument. 
His  answer  was  to  the  effect  that  it  was  only  when 
the  Roman  hierarchy  was  beginning  to  gather 
political  momentum  at  Rome,  in  the  third 
century,  the  need  of  an  organised  system  of 
espionage  upon  the  community  was  found  neces- 
sary in  order  to  assure  the  foundations  of  the 
temporal  and  political  fabric  of  the  Church,  and 
the  Confessional  was  chosen  as  the  means  most 
suited  to  the  end  in  view,^  since  hostile  intrigue, 
which  could  not  be  discovered  through  the 
men,  was  fairly  certain  to  be  found  out  through 
the  women  and  children,  under  Socratic  cross- 
examination  by  astute  confessors. 

"  But,"  objected  the  Crown  Prince,  "  we  are 
wandering  far  away  from  our  subject — woman. 
The  attitude  of  all  men  of  action,  more  particu- 
larly princes,  towards  political  women  should  be 
that  of  Napoleon  towards  Madame  de  Stael,  who, 
there  can  be  no  question,  remains  the  greatest 
woman  that  history  has  yet  revealed.  To  have 
worked,  and  with  success,  for  the  destruction  of 

1  In  his  History  of  the  Christian  Church  the  Roman  Catholic 
Bishop  of  Tarbes,  Dr  Duchesne,  declares  that  in  a.d.  150  Hermas 
made  no  mention  of  penance,  confession  or  absolution  as  part  of 
Church  teaching. — Diarist.  [This  work  was  placed  on  the  Index 
in  1912. — Editor.] 


MADAME  DE  STAEL  ANI)  NAPOLEON    107 

Napoleon  and  his  system  in  Petersburg,  in  Berlin, 
in  Vienna  and  in  London,  with  voice  and  pen, 
is  an  achievement  beside  which  the  work  of  all 
save  half-a-score  of  men  in  the  world's  history 
approaches  the  proportions  of  distinctly  minus 
quantities,  while  the  work  of  the  great  female 
sovereigns  of  the  world  remains  local  and  pro- 
vincial beside  what  the  daughter  of  Necker 
accomplished  single-handed.  And  though  he 
was  the  natural  enemy  of  my  House,  I  admit 
that  Napoleon  was  the  greatest  of  all  men  since 
antiquity.  Yet  he  admitted  that  had  he  dealt 
less  harshly  with  Madame  de  Stael  her  influence 
as  an  educative  force  must  have  contributed  to 
the  stability  of  his  throne.  At  all  events  his 
treatment  of  de  Stael  forced  her  to  prove  herself 
not  less  the  greatest  woman  of  the  modern  world 
than  he  had  shown  himself  its  greatest  man. 
Room  in  the  same  world  for  such  a  couple,  and 
in  the  same  age,  there  could  certainly  not  have 
been. 

*' Nevertheless,  my  mind  has  exercised  itself 
at  different  periods  over  a  highly  interesting 
question  which  the  psychologists  of  history — to 
give  them  their  new  name — have  entirely  over- 
looked. I  present  it  to  them — here  it  is  :  Did 
Madame  de  Stael  love  Napoleon  ?  Was  her 
political  pilgrimage  to  the  capitals  of  reactionary 
Europe  dictated  by  her  desire  to  restore  the 
Bourbons,  or  to  bring  back  the  days  of  Consular 
Republicanism,  which  was  monarchical  in  all  but 
name  ;    or  was  not  a  disappointed  heart  at  the 


108    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

root  of  the  enmity  she  discovered  as  soon  as  she 
realised  that  her  exile  was  irrevocable  ?  I  can 
see  and  will  admit  many  points  against  my 
hypothesis — one  in  particular  being  her  perennial 
polyandrousness,  as  Potocki  calls  it.  Admitted; 
but  I  could  argue,  to  my  own  satisfaction  at  least, 
that  her  really  belle  passion  in  life  was  Napoleon." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Viennese  Woman — Concerning  Mademoiselle — Her  Attraction 
for  Rudolph — Archduke  taboos  Women  in  Politics — Baroness 
Larricarda's  Salon — Changes  in  Social  Vienna — I  become  a 
Visitor  at  the  Baroness's — Germans  in  Viennese  and  European 
Society — I  meet  Koinoff  again — A  Conversation  at  my 
Rooms 

Those  who  are  at  all  acquainted  with  Vienna 
will  not  require  to  be  told  that  the  Viennese 
woman  is,  in  regard  to  her  physical  build,  quite 
in  a  class  by  herself  :  the  small  head  poised  upon 
a  somewhat  short  and  protuberant  bust,  the 
narrow  hips,  the  limbs  long  in  proportion  to  the 
torso,  yet  giving  a  general  impression  of  a  yetite 
woman — here  you  have  the  maiden  of  the  Austrian 
capital,  and  for  all  her  loftier  height  and  Levantine 
suggestion,  this  was  Marie  Vetsera.  I  have 
known  women  of  all  types,  but  have  long  since 
learned  to  understand  that  in  regard  to  woman - 
flesh,^  we  must  accept  the  Roman  poet's  maxim 
which  tells  us  that  there  is  no  accounting  for 
tastes.     Horace  was  it — or  Juvenal  ? 

Nevertheless,  I  was  not  at  all  alone  in  my 
opinion  that  the  Archduke  Rudolph  had  dis- 
played a  strange  enough  choice  when  he  conferred 
his  imperial  patronage  on  this  young  lady  of 
twenty,  who  became  officially  known  to  us  by 
the    title    Mademoiselle.     There    were    questions 

^  Sic,  alas  !— Editor. 
109 


110  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

which  I  could  not  have  put  to  my  master  even 
in  his  most  intimate  of  moods,  and  I  never  had 
the  hardihood  to  ask  if  his  fair  lady  was  possessed 
of  intellectual  gifts.  On  my  own  casual  judg- 
ment of  character,  however,  for  I  met  her,  very 
formally,  but  on  two  occasions,  I  should  have 
said  that  Mademoiselle  was  altogether  a  woman 
without  serious  thought,  and  the  Archduke's  most 
intellectual  friend.  Professor  Udel,  with  whom 
I  was  on  very  cordial  terms  indeed,  agreed  with 
my  verdict  in  this  respect.  Of  all  the  men  in 
my  master's  coterie,  only  Potocki  and  Bombelles 
had  had  the  advantage  of  meeting  her  at  close 
range,  and  as  neither  said  anything  in  disparage- 
ment of  her  personality,  I  concluded  that  they 
had  little  to  say  in  glorification  thereof,  since 
they  said  nothing  at  all. 

Strange,  too,  though  it  may  seem,  I  was  not  a 
little  irritated  by  the  Archduke's  sudden  fancy  for 
this,  to  me,  somewhat  superficial  and  emotional 
maid,  who  certainly  could  not  be  said  to  have 
possessed  overwhelming  contributory  gifts  in  great 
beauty  or  irresistible  fascination  to  explain  the  in- 
fluence which  she  certainly  exercised  over  Rudolph. 
In  regard  to  favourite  women,  the  Archduke  was 
an  unusually  silent  man,  and  at  no  time  would  he 
permit  his  familiars  to  touch  upon  the  subject  of  his 
relations  with  them.  All  we  understood  regarding 
Mademoiselle  was  that  she  became,  in  his  com- 
pany, the  reverse  of  what  she  appeared  to  be  in 
the  general  society  of  her  class  ;  this  was  perfectly 
comprehensible  to  us,  for  there  was  none  who  knew 


PhotOf4rav)h  :  Stanley's  Press  Agfnc\ 


MADEMOISELLE    MARIE   VETSERA,   JANUARY.    1S88. 


MADEMOISELLE  VETSERA        111 

better  than  the  Archduke  how  to  draw  forth 
from  favoured  men  and  women  their  most  deeply 
hidden  characteristics. 

Hoyos  had  seen  her  display,  in  the  company  of 
my  master  and  himself,  a  vivacity  and  sparkle 
which  (Hoyos  declared)  would  have  done  justice 
to  a  very  bright  Frenchwoman  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  Udel,  who  had  been  more  favoured  than 
myself  in  meeting  her,  declared  that  the  bond 
which  united  the  lady  with  Rudolph  was  a  certain 
mystical  temperament  which,  if  this  were  the 
case,  was  a  trait  common  to  the  two  lovers,  for 
under  certain  conditions  the  Archduke  was  the 
most  mystical  of  men,  a  strong  vein  of  supersti- 
tion being  the  form  in  which  his  mysticism 
generally  declared  itself.  In  my  recollection  of 
Marie  Vetsera,  I  must  not  omit  to  say  that  she 
was  famed  throughout  Vienna,  as,  indeed,  were 
all  the  ladies  of  her  family,  for  their  extreme 
elegance  and  taste  in  dress- — a  trait  not  too  common 
among  my  countrywomen,  I  am  bound  to  admit. 

I  am  convinced  from  what  I  myself  learned 
of  the  Archduke  Rudolph's  character,  and  apart 
from  what  he  told  me,  that,  like  all  men  of  in- 
tellectual worth,  he  had  very  little  regard  for 
women  outside  their  appointed  role  in  the  order 
of  things,  although  he  once  admitted  that  he 
never  neglected  an  opportunity  of  listening  to 
what  his  favourites  had  to  say  concerning  current 
events  ;  not  so  much,  he  was  careful  to  explain, 
because  such  opinions  represented  the  views  of 
the    ladies    themselves    as    because     they    were, 


112  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

he  found,  invariably  the  reflection  of  sentiments 
expressed  by  their  male  relatives  and  political 
friends.  Even  for  the  opinions  of  the  ladies  of 
the  Imperial  family  he  had  but  scant  respect, 
and  it  is  certain  that  had  he  lived  to  succeed 
to  the  throne,  petticoat-intrigue  would  have  had 
no  place  in  the  policies  of  the  Empire  ;  while  it  is 
also  certain  that  his  very  acute  sense  of  external 
political  trickery,  which  even  in  those  days 
recognised  how  the  enemies  of  Austria  were 
using  the  heart-susceptibilities  of  old  Kaiser 
Franz  for  their  own  ends,  would  have  prevented 
the  presence  at  the  Court  of  Vienna  of  women 
who  were  practically  spies  in  the  pay  of  Bismarck, 
transmitting  to  the  Wilhelmstrasze  all  kinds  of 
information,  or  turning  the  mind  of  the  ageing 
Monarch  to  counsels  which  were  favourable  to 
the  Chancellor's  schemes.  The  names  of  two 
of  these  favourites  of  the  old  Emperor  cannot 
fail  to  recur  to  the  minds  of  all  who  possess 
any  knowledge  of  social  and  political  currents 
in  Vienna  in  the  penultimate  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

Among  Berlin's  chartered  spies  in  Vienna, 
during  the  years  with  which  I  deal,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  was  a  woman  whose  name  I 
will  give  in  such  a  form  that  any  person  who 
has  a  sense  of  phonetics,  and  who  knew  the 
Vienna  of  those  days,  will  easily  recognise  the 
person  in  question.  I  will  call  her  Baroness 
Larricarda,  and  refuse  to  give  her  proper  name  or 
title,  at  this  juncture,  for  the  reason  that  since 


THE  BARONESS  LARRICARUA       113 

her  exile  from  Vienna,  after  the  death  of  the 
Archduke  Rudolph,  her  struggle  for  an  existence 
was,  and  still  is  said  to  be,  a  somewhat  pitiful  one. 
Viennese  society,  since  the  days  of  Austria's 
eclipse  at  Sadowa,  had  sought  to  conceal  the  in- 
jured patriotic  emotions  bom  of  that  disaster  by 
affecting  an  hysterical  sort  of  gaiety  which  was 
somewhat  foreign  to  the  real  character  of  the 
people.  In  my  opinion,  your  genuine  Austrian 
approaches  more  to  the  racial  types  to  be  met 
in  Belgium  and  Holland  than  to  the  Germans  of 
the  Confederation — that  is  to  say,  he  is  essentially 
a  serious  person,  for  all  his  abandon  on  joyous  and 
festive  occasions — and  to  my  way  of  thinking  he 
is  as  keen  in  commercial  transactions  as  a  Hebrew 
or  a  Scot.  And  so,  like  all  forced  characteristics, 
the  new-found  frivolity  of  the  Viennese  degener- 
ated quickly  into  a  positive  mania  of  wickedness, 
without,  at  the  same  time,  taking  on  any  of  the 
picturesque  artistry  which  conceals — ^and  often 
condones — the  refined  viciousness  of  Parisians — 
citizens,  also,  who,  after  1870,  went  through  for 
many  years  a  phase  of  social  madness  similar  to 
that  which  affected  Austria.  About  the  years  of 
which  I  write,  Viennese  society  was  probably  the 
most  dissipated  in  Europe,  and  so  became  a  happy 
mart  for  ladies  of  that  type  which  serves  the 
foibles  of  a  prince. 

The  position  of  the  Baroness — for  her  original 
social  standing  was  unquestioned — remains  another 
indication  of  the  marvellous  change  which  was 
taking  place  in  Viennese  society,  a  change  which 

H 


114   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

eventually  drove  myself  and  many  of  my  friends, 
in  sheer  disgust  of  the  new  conditions  prevailing, 
from  our  capital.  Larricarda  had  made  it  her 
system  to  support  the  ambitions  of  the  new 
arrivals,  armed  with  vast  wealth,  but  poor  in 
pedigree  and  antecedent ;  and,  as  in  every  other 
capital  in  the  world,  it  soon  came  about  that  those 
whose  purses  were  long  eventually  called  the 
tune  to  the  leaders  of  the  grand  monde — not 
wholly  so,  of  course,  but  to  a  large  extent.  The 
result  of  this  in  Vienna,  as  in  other  capitals  of 
the  world,  was  to  create  an  important  enough 
intervening  social  stratum  which  became  known 
as  Smart  Society,  and  which  had  so  much  in  the 
way  of  gaiety,  versatility  and  abandon  to  recom- 
mend it  that  it  attracted  elements  from  all  classes 
of  the  Viennese  world — many  of  the  high-born 
not  less  than  the  new-rich.  Larricarda's  salon 
became  consequently  a  thoroughly  cosmopolitan 
one,  and  though  it  was  non-political,  it  affected 
a  certain  democratic  sentiment  and  tone  which 
not  only  sat  well  upon  its  adherents,  but  which 
also  made  it  a  refreshing  rendezvous  for  men  and 
women  of  the  greater  world,  v/ho  were  long  sated 
with  age-old  conventions  and  formalisms. 

Having  said  that  the  Baroness  Larricarda  acted 
in  reality  in  venal  ways  for  the  Habsburg  Princes, 
it  is  only  right  for  me  to  add  that  this  fact  was 
known  only  to  such  persons  as  could  be  said  to 
move  within  the  Imperial  circle,  whether  as 
important  officials  or  else  as  familiars  of  the  Court. 
It  is,  of  course,  giving  avvay  no  special  information 


A  GAY  VIENNESE  HOUSE         115 

when  I  say  that  there  is  not  a  Court  in  Europe, 
or  in  Asia,  for  that  matter,  wliich  is  not  also 
served  in  this  respect  by  venal  spirits  among  its 
great  inondaines.  The  Pompadours,  the  Montes- 
pans  and  Dubarrys  did  not  all  pass  away  with 
the  golden  age  of  Versailles  and  the  Trianon  ;  on 
the  contrary,  like  the  Jews,  they  are  always 
available.  Baroness  Larricarda  was,  it  must  be 
admitted,  a  woman  of  great  social  ability  and 
tact,  and  Rudolph,  to  whom  the  democratic  tone 
and  almost  vaudeville  gaiety  of  her  routs  at  once 
appealed,  became  the  most  consistent  patron  of 
her  salon,  as  he  was  also  its  most  illustrious.  The 
Vetsera  family  were  not  habitues  of  Larricarda's 
receptions,  and  so  her  house  became  easily  the 
favourite  rendezvous  for  the  Archduke  Rudolph 
and  Marie  Vetsera.  To  myself,  as  well  as  to 
the  intimate  male  circle  of  Rudolph,  the  Baroness 
showed  much  kindness,  and  at  her  receptions  I 
rarely  failed  to  meet  one  or  more  of  my  master's 
most  intimate  friends — Hoyos,  Bombelles,  Neu- 
mann, Udel,  Teleki,  Potocki,  Wilczek  Weilen, 
Jokai  and  several  more. 

Although  not  a  lover  of  social  functions  of  any 
kind,  and  much  preferring  the  company  of  well- 
read  and  travelled  men  of  the  world,  I  made  it  my 
business  to  put  in  an  appearance  at  Larricarda's 
as  often  as  I  cared  to  do  so  ;  for  as  an  intimate 
of  the  Archduke  my  standing  became  that  of  a 
Hausfreund.  The  reason  for  this  abrupt  change 
in  my  social  habits,  as  far  as  the  Baroness's  house 
was    concerned,   arose   from    the   fact   that   her 


116   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

establishment  also  became  an  unusually  frequent 
rendezvous  of  the  German  diplomatic  body  in 
Vienna.  I  say  unusually,  because  owing  to  the 
attitude  of  the  Archduke  towards  Germans — and 
my  master  was  as  generous  in  putting  in  an 
appearance  at  important  and,  indeed,  unimportant 
houses,  as  his  friend  the  Prince  of  Wales,  in 
London — they  were  only  as  a  rule  very  sparsely 
represented  at  receptions  outside  those  given 
by  the  Emperor  or  the  Ambassadors.  Socially, 
indeed,  the  German,  more  particularly  the 
Prussian,  has  never  counted  for  much  in  our 
Capital,  and  the  reason  for  this  is  that,  taking 
their  cue  from  the  Hohenzollern  Princes,  whose 
attitude  towards  all  other  European  Princes  of 
the  Blood  is  not  less  insolent  than  it  is  farcical — 
for  they  are  the  least  exalted  by  birth  of  any  royal 
House  in  Europe,  except  possibly  that  of  Sweden 
— your  German  assumes  in  the  great  society  of 
the  various  capitals  which  I  have  visited  a  poseful 
affectation  of  superiority  which  might  be  excused 
if  it  were  accom23anied  by  anything  like  an  easy 
assumption  of  the  part,  and  not  marked  by  the 
elaborate  effort  which  he  invariably  puts  forth 
in  his  attempt  to  enact  the  role — a  pose  which 
reminds  me  altogether  of  members  of  the  American 
so-called  Four  Hundred  when  they  endeavour, 
in  acting  the  part  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  to 
simulate  that  unconsciousness  of  manner  which 
characterises  your  well-bred  European  of  either 
sex. 

Nor  was  I  much  pleased  to  note  that  among 


SOME  PRUSSIAN  WATCH-DOGS        117 

the  Prussian  gentry  who  attended  the  Baroness's 
receptions  the  majority  of  them  gave  themselves 
the  airs  of  men  who  to  some  extent  possessed  a 
hold  over  their  hostess,  and  I  have  often  noted 
that  your  German,  unUke  most  other  men,  is 
wholly  unable  to  forgo  the  petty  delights  which 
presumably  spring  from  openly  displaying  towards 
a  victim  the  consciousness  of  having  that  victim 
in  one's  power.  As  I  have  said,  the  Baroness 
was  at  that  time  always  friendly  to  myself,  and 
I  was  far  from  feeling  at  ease  when  I  noted  the 
attitude  of  certain  of  these  Berlin  habitues  towards 
her,  an  attitude  on  which  Udel  and  Bombelles 
more  than  once  remarked  on  leaving  the  place. 
Beyond  the  notoriety  inseparable  from  a 
socially  gay  house,  few  persons  in  Vienna  in 
those  days  knew  that  it  was  the  rendezvous 
of  the  Archduke  and  his  inamorata,  so  that  no 
open  scandal  whatever  attached  to  the  establish- 
ment of  Baroness  Larricarda  at  the  period  of 
which  I  speak.  The  hostess,  as  far  as  I  could 
gather,  was  of  a  dilapidated  squirearchic  family 
in  the  Vorarlberg  region,  and  had  married  a 
sporting  man  who  had  a  varying  success  on  the 
German  Turf  and  who  was  also  said  to  be  inter- 
ested in  several  of  the  minor  music  halls  of  our 
capital.  Up  till  1887,  their  social  life  had  been 
less  important,  and  it  was  only  in  the  opening  of 
that  year  that  the  salon  Larricarda  began  to 
attain  a  notoriety  as  a  rendezvous  of  great  gaiety, 
and  people  began  to  whisper  that  successful  Turf 
speculation    had    refilled    the   exchequer   of    the 


118    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

sporting  Baron.  Certain  it  is  that  from  1887 
till  the  end  of  1888  profuseness  never  seemed  to 
inconvenience  the  hostess  of  that  most  hospitable 
of  houses. 

It  was  here  one  night  that,  much  to  my  surprise, 
I  was  accosted  by  my  old  schoolfellow  Koinoff. 
Much  to  my  surprise,  I  repeat,  for  any  house  which 
was  honoured  habitually  by  the  presence  of  the 
Crown  Prince  Rudolph  might  have  been  con- 
sidered an  unlikely  place  at  which  to  encounter 
a  social  waif  and  strayling  of  the  type  of  Koinoff. 
It  is  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  he  had  been 
an  attache  of  the  Berlin  Foreign  Office,  and  the 
fact  recurred  to  my  memory  as  he  so  unexpectedly 
introduced  himself.  There  was  a  vague  and 
troubled  air  about  the  old  Feldkirchian  which 
was  in  severe  contrast  with  his  airy  demeanour 
and  brave  attitude  when  I  had  last  met  him  in 
Berlin,  and  he  appeared,  I  half  fancied,  to  shrink 
under  my  somewhat  close  scrutiny,  for,  to  repeat 
myself  again,  his  presence  there  fairly  made  me 
wonder. 

"  You  are  on  a  visit,  I  suppose  ?  "  was  my 
natural  question. 

"  On  the  contrary,"  he  replied  ;  "I  have  come 
back  to  stay." 

"  And  the  Chancellor  ?  Did  you  find  him  a 
hard  master  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  I  met  the  Chancellor  only  once,"  Koinoff 
said  ;  "  and  that  was  when  he  transferred  my 
services  to  Galimberti." 

"  What,  the  Nuncio  ?  "  I  asked,  in  some  wonder- 


MY  OLD  FRIEND  KOINOFF        119 

ment,  for  this  prelate  had  been  the  Roman 
Nuncio  in  Vienna  and  had  not  distinguished 
himself  by  a  very  sympathetic  attitude  towards 
Austria.  Indeed,  at  that  time  there  was  talk 
of  his  being  transferred  to  Berlin,  where  he  was 
a  frequent  visitor  to  Prince  Bismarck.^ 

"  Not  altogether  to  the  service  of  the  Nuncio 
himself,"  Koinoff  explained  ;  "  but  to  his  Nuncia- 
ture here.  Galimberti  is  booked  for  Berlm,  they 
say." 

"  So  I  have  heard,"  was  my  answer  ;  "  but 
are  you  still  in  the  service  of  Petri,  of  whom  you 
told  me  in  Berlin  ?  " 

"  My  dear  friend,"  the  old  Feldkirchian 
replied,  "  it  was  a  matter  of  money  with  me, 
and  I  had,  in  any  case,  the  option  of  remaining  in 
Berlin  or  coming  home.  The  Vatican  people  can 
pay  me  a  better  price,  evidently,  and  Bismarck 
permitted  the  transfer  to  oblige  his  friend  the 
Nuncio.  There  is  a  lack  of  linguists  here,  and, 
like  yourself,  I  am  acquainted  with  Italian. 
Besides,  after  all,  this  is  my  country,  and  entre 
nous,  I  am  not  in  love  with  the  Prussian.  Again, 
I  was  glad  to  leave  Berlin  for  one  particular  reason, 
and  that  was  because  their  sportsmen  gamble 
much  too  high  for  the  purse  of  an  irregular 
attache.  I  was  under  a  cloud — riddled  with 
debts,  my  dear  fellow,  and  glad  to  escape  the 
Jews." 

The  Archduke  was  absent  from  Vienna  about 

^  This  prelate  was  subsequently  promoted  to  the  Cardinalate. — 
Editor. 


120    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

that  time,  and  was  not  expected  home  till  we 
should  be  due  to  leave  for  London  in  June  1887. 
Accordingly  I  had  taken  up  residence,  during  my 
master's  absence,  at  a  suite  of  rooms  I  had  long 
held  in  town.  On  consideration,  too,  I  made  it 
good  policy  to  see  something  of  my  old  school- 
fellow Koinoff.  We  therefore  walked  together 
to  my  lodging,  where  we  drank  a  bottle  of  wine 
and  discussed  the  old  days  at  Feldkirch,  on  which 
topic,  I  may  say,  Koinoff,  the  ex-scholastic,  did 
not  fail  to  prove  amusing. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Some  Capitals  compared — London  that  was — Anglo-French 
Characteristics — Social  Changes  in  England  and  Some  Causes 
— Queen  Victoria's  Jubilee  of  1887 — The  Archduke's  Party 
in  Paris — His  Attitude  towards  Subordinates — Reception  by 
the  English  Court — Attitude  of  British  People  towards  their 
Royal  Family — Upper,  Middle  and  Lower  Classes — Women's 
Social  Mania — The  Archduke  and  Prince  William  of  Prussia — 
An  Apt  Retort 

Ever  since  I  learned,  in  my  teens,  to  know  London 
I  have  retained  a  large  affection  for  the  English 
capital.  Berlin,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  cleanest  city 
in  the  world,  and  Florence  the  most  beautiful ; 
Paris  within  the  past  twenty-five  years  has 
degenerated  and  become  scandalously  filthy ; 
Vienna,  where  I  have  not  lived,  nor  even  visited, 
since  the  month  following  the  death  of  the 
Archduke  Rudolph,  February  1889,  always  recurs 
to  me  as  an  attempt  to  turn  an  old  Flemish  city 
into  a  modern  capital  by  interspersing  its  ar- 
chaic structures  with  spectacular  edifices  of  the 
Renaissance  type.  You  can  find  within  its  cir- 
cumference all  the  historic  phases  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire — later-Roman,  Gothic,  Venetian, 
Frank,  Dutch  and  Flemish — with  always  that 
suggestion  of  the  barbaric  which  you  begin  to 
feel  everywhere  east  and  south  of  Berlin.  The 
people  of  Berlin  remind  me  of  prosperous  agri- 
cultural folk  endeavouring  to  play  at  being  ladies 

131 


122    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

and  gentlemen  ;  those  of  Paris  are  as  keen  and 
unscrupulous  as  Jews  ;  the  natives  of  Vienna  are 
too  servilely  polite  to  be  sincere,  and  outside 
Milan,  I  have  no  love  for  Italians — the  Janus- 
headed  race.  In  London  alone,  of  all  capitals, 
I  used  to  find  men  natural,  straightforward, 
unpretentious  and  dignified.  I  say  I  used  to  find 
them  so,  for  many  changes  have  taken  place  in 
the  character  of  London  and  Londoners  of  all 
classes,  grades  and  degrees,  since  I  first  knew 
both,  as  a  man  of  the  world,  in  the  eighties  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  From  the  death  of  my 
master  I  have  lived  in  Italy,  but  have  contrived 
to  visit  London — where  I  am  still  a  member  of 
the  St  James's  Club — once  in  every  two  or  three 
years. 

The  most  salient  characteristic  I  have  noted 
in  Londoners  during  the  past  fifteen  years  is  the 
extent  to  which  they  have  become  Gallicised. 
Many  of  my  English  friends  who  know  America — 
I  have  not  visited  that  country,  myself — assure 
me  that  the  English  have  become  Americanised 
rather  than  Gallicised,  and  that  the  resemblance 
between  the  Americans  and  the  French  is  much 
more  pronounced  than  is  suspected  by  those  who 
do  not  know  America.^  Not  knowing  America, 
I  am  at  a  certain  disadvantage  ;  but  with  regard 
to  the  English  people,  I  cannot  help  noting  that 
while  much  of  the  stolidity  which  marked  the 

1  As  a  result  of  the  War  of  Independence  and  that  of  1812, 
Americans  certainly  became  very  Francophile  in  their  sympathies, 
and  correspondingly  hostile  to  English  ideas. — Editor. 


SOCIAL  CHANGES  IN  LONDON      123 

time-honoured  English  types  has  passed  into 
the  possession  of  the  French,  many  of  the  lighter 
characteristics  of  the  people  of  France  have  become 
common  to  Englishmen  and  Englishwomen.  Yet 
I  cannot  see  that  the  exchange  of  characteristics 
has  advantaged  the  English  even  to  the  extent 
of  bringing  to  them  any  of  the  artisticity  of  the 
French  character,  and  I  feel  bound  to  say  that 
a  certain  affectation  of  French  airs  and  petites 
manieres,  which  of  recent  years  I  have  marked 
in  both  Englishmen  and  Englishwomen,  is  not, 
as  acting,  less  lamentable  a  failure  than,  in  the 
eyes  of  those  who  observe  intelligently,  it  appears 
ludicrous  in  the  extreme. 

I  find  myself,  indeed,  in  excellent  English 
company  when  I  declare  that  English  literature, 
drama,  journalism,  opera,  and  even  scholarship, 
have  all  deteriorated  ;  that  its  parliamentary 
life  has  become  but  the  pale  ghost  of  a 
great  glory  ;  that  English  institutionalism  is  a 
vanishing  quantity  ;  that  the  spirit  of  the  last 
unwholesome  generation  has  been  the  spirit  of 
the  charlatan  and  the  pretender ;  and  that  all 
this  has  happened  in  the  past  twenty-five  years. 
Friends  of  mine,  mostly  old  schoolfellows  of  my 
English  days,  have  tried  to  explain  matters  to  me 
on  the  hypothesis  that  fre^  education  was  pre- 
maturely given  to  a  people  which  was,  in  its  then 
ignorant  condition,  incapable  of  assimilating  it 
by  a  properly  graduated  process,  or  rational  series 
of  steps.  The  result  was  the  upsetting  of  social 
equilibria.     I  am  willing  to  admit  all  the  vicious 


124   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

possibilities  of  intellectual  cramming  in  the  case 
of  people  who,  in  the  great  bulk,  have,  education- 
ally speaking,  inherited  nothing,  and  the  brain  as 
well  as  the  body  looks  for  its  inheritance.  I  have, 
nevertheless,  another  opinion  on  the  matter,  and 
have  heard  it  from  those  who  were  in  a  position 
to  know  the  mind  of  Berlin  that  a  set  policy  of 
those  who  have  directed  the  destinies  of  Germany 
since  the  fall  of  Bismarck  was  based  largely  on 
the  fact  that  England  was  commercially  a  non- 
protected country  ;  it  was  hoped  by  means  of 
industrial  competition  to  reduce  wage-earners 
to  the  starvation  stage,  a  condition  which  must 
react  on  the  physique  of  that  class  from  which 
the  Army  and  Navy  are  principally  drawn. 

As  a  visitor  to  England  in  1903, 1  was  a  witness 
of  the  acute  phases  of  that  terrible  poverty  of 
which  Berlin  militarism  always  dreamed  as  certain 
to  lead  to  that  national  unrest  and  rebelliousness 
upon  which  they  calculated  for  the  realisation  of 
their  ambition  to  "  square  their  account  "  with 
a  practically  effete  and  disrupted  nation.  All 
classes  in  England  suffered  by  the  policy  of 
Berlin  ;  unrest  was  everywhere,  and  everywhere 
English  ideals  were  bemg  steadily  undermined 
by  the  forces  working  for  their  destruction.  As 
an  Austrian  I  have  heard  from  relatives  how, 
before  our  downfall  at  Sadowa,  similar  policies 
were  put  into  operation  with  the  same  sinister 
purposes  and  effects  in  our  own  country  ;  and  as 
a  "  retired  "  Austrian,  if  I  may  use  a  phrase  which 
jumps  to  mind,  I  am  a  happy  spectator  of  the 


A  SHORT   STAY  IN  PARIS  125 

certain  doom  of  Prussian  designs  in  the  case  of 
Britain.  Further,  as  I  am  neither  writing  of  my 
own  country  nor  yet  living  in  it,  I  venture  to  play 
the  role  of  prophet  when  I  declare  it  my  belief 
that  the  past  prosperity  of  England  will  prove, 
once  Militarism  is  destroyed,  to  have  been  as 
mediocre  compared  with  that  which  must  ultim- 
ately open  for  all  classes  of  her  sons.  Yet  I 
never  expect  to  see  again  that  leisurely  and 
stately  England  of  1887. 

Travelling  orders  and  preparations  were  given 
and  executed  very  rapidly  on  the  eve  of  our  visit 
to  England  in  June  of  the  Jubilee  Year.  We 
spent  a  day  incognito  in  Paris,  where,  as  he  never 
failed  to  do,  the  Archduke  visited  the  Tomb  of 
Napoleon,^  there  to  indulge  in  some  mystical 
reflections,  as  was  his  wont  in  all  things  concerned 
with  that  most  formidable  adversary  of  the  House 
of  Habsburg.  The  afternoon  was  spent  with 
General  de  Gallifet,  one  of  the  most  intimate  of 
the  Archduke's  French  acquaintances,  and  the 
evening  saw  us  on  our  way  to  England.  Our 
journey  to  Paris  had  not,  I  may  say,  been  of  the 
pleasantest,  for  the  Crown  Prince  had  left  Vienna 
in  the  worst  temper  which,  as  far  as  my  experi- 
ence went,  I  had  yet  witnessed  in  him.  Certain 
arrangements  which  had  been  made  for  a  pro- 
tracted stay  in  the  English  capital  had,  owing  to 

^  The  reflection  is  startling  enough — Bonaparte  was  by  marriage 
the  grand-uncle  of  this  scion  of  a  hundred  Imperial  Habsburgers  ! 
It  is  hardly  less  startling  to  reflect  that  Bonaparte  himself  be- 
came, by  his  marriage  with  Marie  LouisCj  a  nephew-in-law  of 
Louis  XVI. — Editor. 


126  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

unexpected  objections  on  the  part  of  Kaiser  Franz, 
perforce  to  be  cancelled,  the  whole  visit  being 
consequently  curtailed  save  as  to  the  central 
ceremonies  concerned  with  Queen  Victoria's 
celebrations. 

The  originally  proposed  visit  was  to  have 
lasted,  if  I  remember  correctly,  a  fortnight ;  we 
were  to  have  renewed  our  acquaintance  with  the 
English  Turf  and  arrangements  had  been  made 
for  the  Archduke  to  inspect  the  famous  racer 
Bendigo,  while  purely  academic  visits  had  been 
planned  to  several  museums  containing  ornitho- 
logical treasure,  a  science  in  which  my  master  was 
deeply  interested.  Among  these  academic  visits, 
one  in  particular  docs  not  escape  me,  for  it  con- 
cerned the  meeting  of  the  Archduke  with  a  certain 
Mr  Ricardo,  then  sojourning  very  unpretentiously 
in  London  ;  this  name  disguised  the  personality 
of  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  age — namely. 
Prince  Lucien  Bonaparte,  a  son  of  that  famous 
Lucien  Bonaparte  whose  great  political  abilities 
made  him  a  source  of  much  envy  and  fear  to  his 
omnipotent  brother.  This  engagement,  as  the 
event  proved,  was  the  only  one  which  the  Arch- 
duke insisted  on  keeping  under  the  curtailed 
programme.  The  visit  had  been  planned  with  a 
view  to  discussing  the  historical  value  of  certain 
coins  which  during  a  hunting-trip  the  Prince  had 
unearthed  at  Meyerling  in  the  previous  winter. 

To  repeat  myself,  then,  Rudolph  had  left 
Vienna  in  the  worst  of  tempers,  and  it  was  only 
by  our  arrival  at  Paris  that  he  had  recovered  the 


A  PKINCK  AND  HIS  SERVANTS     127 

usual  serenity  of  his  disposition.  Towards  those 
whom  he  disliked  I  have  seen  him  display  so 
forbidding  a  demeanour  that  I  have  positively 
felt  ashamed  to  have  to  w  itness  it ;  and  my  unele 
has  declared  himself  in  the  same  way  regarding 
old  Kaiser  Franz,  whose  occasional  ferocity  of 
temper  towards  tried  servants  of  State  one  would 
hardly  suspect  in  so  benign-looking  a  monarch. 
Towards  those  wdiom  he  liked,  on  the  other  hand, 
Rudolph  was  as  a  comrade,  a  characteristic  he 
no  doubt  acquired  from  his  years  of  military 
service,  and  officers  who  served  at  Prague  with 
his  first  regiment  —  the  36th  Infantry  —  have 
assured  me  that  no  regiment  in  our  Service  had 
ever  had  a  more  poi:)ular  subaltern.  Unlike  the 
men  of  the  Hohenzollern  family,  who  were,  in 
those  days,  known  for  their  inhumanity  to  their 
body  servants,  I  doubt  if  any  prince  ever  treated 
those  who  served  him  in  a  menial  capacity  with 
greater  kindness  than  the  Archduke,  a  trait,  I 
was  assured,  which  also  characterised  Kaiser 
Franz  in  his  relations  with  humbler  dependents. 

The  story  of  the  first  famous  Jubilee  of  the 
illustrious  Victoria  has  been  written  in  history. 
I  was  privileged  also  to  witness  that  of  ISOT, 
and  in  the  way  of  Imperial  pageants  each  of  them 
established  a  record  of  w  hich  the  proper  chroniclers 
have  duly  told.  My  countrymen,  I  rejoice  to 
be  able  to  say,  have  always  been  received  with 
favour  by  the  English  of  all  classes,  and  in  the 
case  of  the  Archduke  Rudoljjh  I  may  say  that  the 
reigning  Queen-Sovereign  displayed  tow^ards  him 


128    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

a    cordiality   far   greater   than    one   might   have 
expected  from  her  towards  a  prince  of  my  master's 
somewhat  hectically  coloured  life.     I  am,  how- 
ever,  with   Lord   Byron   in   regard   to   the   pre- 
conceptions formed  by  women,  and  believe  with 
the  English  poet  that  at  heart  every  woman  is  a 
rake — matron  just  as  much  as  maid.     I  have  had 
the  privilege  of  studying  royal  women  at  closer 
range  than  is  afforded  most  men,  and  cannot  see 
that  there  is  less  human  nature  in  a  princess  than 
in  a  woman  of  ordinary  rank ;    indeed,  I  have 
heard  my  august  master  declare  that  there  was 
very  much  more,  and  he  was  certainly  entitled 
to  know.     To  all  women  the  Archduke  was  an 
object  of  much  curiosity,  owing  to  his  reputation  ; 
a  reputation,  I  may  say,  which  exaggerated  his 
iniquities  with  about  the   same   facile  untruth- 
fulness   as    modern    rumour    overestimates    the 
fortunes  of  the  great  spectacular  plutocrats,  who, 
of  course,  have  no  objection  to  people  thinking 
them  many  times  richer  than  they  are.     It  was 
a  source  of  much  pleasure  to  our  Austrian  con- 
tingent in  London  to  note  the  great  respect  which 
on  all  hands  was  given  to  the  personal  repre- 
sentative   at    Victoria's    Jubilee,    of    the    most 
splendidly  historic  throne  in  the  world.     For  all 
his  superb  exterior,  no  such  deference  was  paid 
to  the  Crown  Prince  Frederick  of  Prussia — ^with- 
out  question    the   most   imposing   figure   in   the 
memorable   Jubilee  cavalcade — as  was  accorded 
to   the  somewhat   simple,  silent   and   unaffected 
heir  of  Lnperial  Austria. 


PEERS  AND  PROLETARIANS        129 

Here  I  must  record,  as  chronological] y  due, 
a  conversation  with  which  the  Archduke  indulged 
me  respecting  the  peculiar  demeanour  of  ladies 
of  the  middle  classes  in  England  towards  their 
Royal  Family.  The  attitude  of  Englishmen  of 
all  classes  towards  their  Princes  seems  to  be  one  of 
somewhat  frigid  reverence,  arising,  no  doubt,  from 
the  physical  and  psychical  strain,  due  to  the  act  of 
violently  suppressing  emotions — a  characteristic  of 
the  Englishman.  In  most  monarchical  countries, 
in  which  the  principle  of  aristocracy  prevails,  there 
is,  in  my  experience,  a  much  more  cordial  under- 
standing between  the  lowest  class  and  the  highest 
class  than  between  the  highest  and  the  interven- 
ing orders .  It  is  so  in  Austria,  where  men  of  great 
position  are  frequently  to  be  found  on  terms  of 
considerable  intimacy  with  intelligent  men  in  the 
lower  orders  of  the  social  system. 

In  England  I  have  noted  the  same  phenomenon, 
and  have  witnessed  with  pleasure  very  friendly  in- 
tercourse on  the  part  of  great  nobles  towards  men  in 
inferior  positions  in  life ;  towards  the  middle  classes, 
the  same  nobles  observe  an  attitude  of  frigid  aloof- 
ness which  only  the  most  spiritless  and  servile  of 
creatures  can  tolerate  without  open  resentment ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  lowest  orders  display,  as 
regards  the  parvenu  classes,  a  demeanour  not 
lacking  in  respect,  but  covertly  eloquent  of 
question  and  criticism.  In  Continental  countries 
known  to  my  experience  I  have  never  seen, 
among  their  middle  classes,  anything  of  the 
servility  towards  the  upper,  and  more  particularly 


130   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

the  princely  order,  which  I  have  noted  on  the 
part  of  Englishwomen  who  have  social  ambitions  ; 
and  it  was  a  saying  of  the  Archduke  Rudolph, 
who  admitted  its  derivation  from  his  friend  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  that  if  a  woman  of  the  British 
upper-middle  class  were  offered  a  choice  between 
the  kingdom  of  Heaven  and  presentation  at 
Court,  there  would  be  no  upper-middle  class 
British  females  in  paradise. 

His  Highness,  who  knew  English  literature 
extremely  well,  went  on  to  quote  the  philosophy 
of  some  English  poet  whose  name  I  do  not  now 
remember ;  the  quotation  was  to  the  effect  that 
while  Love  is  only  a  small  consideration  in  the 
life  of  a  man,  it  is  woman's  whole  existence. 
With  so  banal  a  verdict  as  this  the  Archduke 
could  not,  he  confessed,  at  all  agree,  and  I  admit 
I  remain  entirely  of  his  mind.  He  could  not,  he 
declared,  believe  in  the  so-called  goodness  of 
woman  just  because  she  was  a  woman,  any  more 
than  he  could  think  that  a  woman  became  an 
angel  because  she  produced  a  child  ;  nor  did  he 
think  woman  had  any  monopoly  of  that  goodness 
upon  which  true  love  must  be  founded — self- 
sacrifice,  mainly.  Consequently,  he  could  not 
accept  it  that  she  had  only  one  object  in  life — 
love. 

She  had  other  objects  in  life,  most  of  them 
the  reverse  of  spiritual — namely,  dress,  social 
prominence  and  the  vanities  attaching  to  these 
ambitions,  and  if  all  this  was  due  to  her  desire 
to  encourage   men,  then   woman  was  in  reality 


VENALITY  OF  WOMAN'S  LOVE     131 

no  better  than  she  ought  to  be.  Even  mother's 
love  in  the  majority  of  eases  was,  he  thought, 
based  on  the  hope  of  renewing  through  the 
children  the  hopes  of  one's  youth  and  shining  in 
the  reflection  of  any  brillianey  that  might  accrue 
to  one's  offspring — also  a  material  ambition,  as 
the  history  of  family  divisions,  small  as  well  as 
great,  went  far  to  show;  such  divisions  being  due 
in  nearly  all  cases  to  the  inspiration  and  worth- 
lessness  of  the  woman  as  a  wife  and  a  mother. 
All  of  which  led  my  master  naturally  to  con- 
clusions which  were  later  to  receive  a  certain 
indoctrination  in  the  work  ^  of  a  young  Viennese 
Jew,  Otto  Weininger,  who,  as  it  happened,  only 
expressed  views  which  had  long  been  held  in 
common  by  the  Archduke  Rudolph,  Professor 
Udel,  Baron  Neumann  and,  if  I  may  add  it,  by 
myself. 

On  our  return  to  Vienna  a  few  days  after  the 
Jubilee  celebrations  had  concluded,  a  story  had, 
we  found,  preceded  us,  and  obtained  currency 
in  several  papers.  I  give  the  substance  of  the 
various  versions  here,  and  can  personally  add 
my  testimony  to  the  general  correctness  of  the 
statements  made ;  for  though  not  present  at 
the  royal  table  at  the  house  in  question,  I  was 
with  Hoyos  an  invited  guest,  and  in  any  case, 
in  the  course  of  the  day,  the  story  obtained  full 
currency. 

>  Obviously  the  work  entitled  Geschlecht  und  Charakter , 
which  created  a  sensation  on  its  appearance.  Its  author  com- 
mitted suicide. — Editor. 


132   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

Among  those  who  represented  Prussia  at  the 
Jubilee  of  1887  was  Prince  William  of  Prussia, 
who  had  accompanied  his  illustrious  father,  the 
Crown  Prince  Frederick,  on  the  occasion  of 
this  great  family  gala.  On  the  day  following 
the  Jubilee  celebrations  the  Archduke  Rudolph 
and  Prince  William,  with  several  younger  royal 
Princes,  were  among  the  guests  at  a  lunch  given 
by  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and  probably 
at  that  time  one  of  the  wealthiest  members  of 
the  English  House  of  Peers.  Conversation  at 
international  royal  gatherings  is,  as  a  rule,  of  the 
least  political  kind,  there  being  a  fixed  convention 
that  all  references  to  serious  political  questions 
shall  be  taboo,  as,  indeed,  a  common  sense  of 
diplomatic  decencies  would  itself  suggest.  It  has 
been  told  how,  during  the  Jubilee  celebrations,  the 
Archduke  Rudolph  had  been  accorded  a  reception 
at  the  hands  of  British  officialdom,  the  respectful 
cordiality  attaching  to  which  had  far  exceeded  that 
shown  to  the  representative  Prussian  Princes. 

At  all  events  it  may  have  been  the  cause  of 
a  certain  chagrin  to  Prince  William  of  Prussia, 
who,  according  to  what  I  learned  at  the 
time,  and  just  after  the  episode,  from  one  of 
the  Karolyi  Embassy,  directed  his  efforts  with 
unusual  persistency  towards  a  discussion  of 
political  matters  connected  with  the  growing 
national-party  movement  in  Austria,  at  the 
head  of  which,  as  everybody  knew,  was  the 
Archduke  Rudolph  himself.  Although  I  heard 
nothing  from  His  Highness  himself  on  the  subject, 


PRUSSIAN  VERSUS  AUSTRIAN       133 

I  was  assured  that  the  tone  adopted  towards  the 
Archduke  was  not  only  aggressive  and  derisive, 
but  was  meant  to  be  publiely  offensive  towards 
Austria,  and  in  such  a  way  that  English  listeners 
should  not  fail  to  learn  a  lesson  therefrom.  With 
unheard-of  boorishness,  the  Prussian  sought  to 
point  out  to  the  Archduke,  to  the  consternation 
of  all  present,  the  hopelessness  of  Austria  ever 
attempting  to  rise  again  to  the  power  she  had 
once  held  m  Europe,  and,  he  suggested,  the 
movement  towards  the  formation  of  a  national 
party  in  Austria  could  have  no  other  inspiration. 
The  Austrian  Empire,  he  urged,  hung  together 
only  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  Kaiser  Franz  had 
already  reigned  nearly  forty  years.  It  would 
not  and  could  not,  he  declared  with  vehemence, 
survive  his  death  ;  at  that  event  the  disruption 
of  the  Habsburg  dominions  was  certain  to  come 
about,  all  the  more  so  because  Austria,  he  con- 
cluded, lacked  leaders  of  statesmanlike  quality. 

"  All  of  which  points  to  the  certainty,"  said 
the  Archduke,  with  pleasant  dubiety,  "  that  on 
the  death  of  the  Emperor  Francis  we  may  expect 
to  receive  a  visit  from  your  Armies  ?  " 

"  The  permanent  arrival  of  Germany  to  the 
headship  of  Germanic  Europe  is  not  less  clearly 
written  in  the  stars  than  is  the  settled  decadence 
of  other  rivals  within  the  same  field,"  replied 
the  Prussian  ;  "  and  when  the  hour  strikes,  my 
country  will  know  how  to  secure  the  welfare  of 
the  Teuton  races  in  Europe,  by  giving  them  the 
benefit  of  Prussia's  genius  for  governing." 


134   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

"  Then,  that  being  the  case,"  replied  the  Arch- 
duke pointedly,  "  and  as  your  Highness  appears 
so  sure  of  the  facts,  I,  for  one  heir  to  a  throne,  do 
not  desire  the  death  of  my  father." 

The  retort,  meeting  the  aggressor  so  aptly, 
silenced  the  Prussian  Prince  very  effectually. 


CHAPTER  X 

I  go  into  Chambers  in  Vienna  during  my  Master's  Absence — An 
Unexpected  Visit  from  Koinoff — A  Question  of  Finance — 
Koinoff's  Nationality — His  Career,  Present  and  Past — I  am 
willing  to  accommodate  him — Koinoff  as  "  Tommy  Atkins  " — 
How  he  beat  a  Prussian  Spy — Koinoff  and  his  Honour — A 
Success  at  Cards 

In  the  autumn  of  1887  the  Crown  Prince  retired 
to  Meyerling  for  a  season's  sport,  granting  me 
conge  during  his  absence.  Accordingly  I  took  up 
residence  in  my  chambers  close  by  the  Hofgarten, 
with  the  fixed  determination  of  setting  about  an 
enterprise  I  had  long  contemplated — namely,  a 
German  version  of  Thackeray's  inimitable  Barry 
Lyndon.  But,  bless  you,  Dis  aliter  visum — the 
gods  had  decided  otherwise,  and  I  had  hardly 
been  installed  when  my  troubles  broke  out.  On 
the  first  evening  of  my  arrival  into  private 
quarters,  Bratfisch  announced  the  presence  of 
my  old  schoolfellow  Koinoff.  According  to 
my  policy,  I  decided  to  see  the  ex-Feldkirchian 
whose  ill-concealed  troubled  air  on  our  last  meet- 
ing had  called  up  a  chord  of  latent  sympathy 
which  I  had  somewhat  unaccountably  discovered 
on  his  behalf.  Like  the  practised  man  of  the 
world  he  was,  Koinoff  took  no  lengthy  time  to 
disclose  the  motive  of  his  business,  for  hardly 
had  he  seated  himself  than  he  put  the  question 
to  me  straight. 
135 


136   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

"  I  am  in  trouble,"  he  said  ;  "  can  you  lend 
me  some  money  ?  " 

My  own  financial  circumstances  had  improved 
considerably  since  my  attachment  to  the  service 
of  the  Archduke,  who  was  no  less  generous  as  an 
employer  than  he  was  punctual  as  a  payer — to  his 
employees.  Also  my  run  of  luck  with  the  horses, 
at  home  and  abroad,  had  continued  fairly  good 
up  to  date,  and  the  Archducal  coterie,  acting 
on  information  which  the  ever-faithful  Kinsky 
transmitted  me  from  London,  had  included 
Roquefort  and  Merry  Hampton  among  very 
fortunate  speculations  since  our  previously  noted 
success  at  Liverpool  in  the  previous  spring.  My 
balance  was  decidedly  on  the  right  side,  and  as  I 
studied  the  pale  and  worn  face  of  my  old  school- 
fellow, I  made  a  mental  resolve  that  he  should 
not  go  away  unrelieved  of  his  anxieties,  if,  within 
reason,  I  could  help  him.    Besides,  I  had  an  end 


m  view. 


As  you  may  guess,"  I  replied,  "  my  means 
are  somewhat  limited  and  my  expenses  not  light ; 
but  if  you  will  give  me  some  idea  of  the  extent 
of  your  requirements,  I  will  see." 

"  I  have  already  given  you,  I  think,  a  fair  idea 
of  the  situation,"  he  replied  ;  "  but  it  is  worse 
than  I  suggested  to  you  on  our  meeting  in  June 
last — has  unfortunately  grown  worse,  and  the 
Jews  are  not  less  relentless  than  my  luck  is  black. 
I  am  badly  pressed  for  fifteen  thousand  gulden 
(£1500)  and  see  no  way  of  getting  that  sum, 
if  you  should  find  yourself  unable  to  help  me." 


KOINOFF  AND  HIS  SOUL  137 

This  was  a  much  larger  sum  than  I  had 
ever  lent  to  a  friend,  and,  even  in  the  existing 
prosperous  enough  condition  of  my  account, 
would  have  meant  a  heavy  draught  on  my 
resources. 

"  May  I  ask,"  I  inquired,  in  (as  I  felt)  the  tone 
of  one  who  is  of  opmion  that  he  is  entitled  to 
cross-examine,  "  how  you  came  to  contract 
liabilities  to  this  extent  ?  Bismarck's  department 
is  noted,  I  think,  for  its  scant  treatment  of 
employees.  The  Vatican  paymasters  are  also 
known  for  their  parsimony,  I  have  always 
understood." 

"I  am  not,"  replied  the  Feldkirchian,  "an 
amateur  of  the  race-horse  method  of  gambling, 
as  you  may,  or  may  not  know.  Cards  have  been 
my  particular  form  of  the  vice,  and  I  have  lost  so 
heavily  to  the  Prussian  contingent  which,  as  you 
know,  visits  so  frequently  at  Madame  Larricarda's, 
that  I  am  actually  beginning  to  fear  for  my 
soul." 

"  And  the  Nunciature — is  it  known  there  that 
you  gamble  your  substance  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Prussian  contingent  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"You  are  aware,"  replied  Koinoff,  "to  what 
extent  the  German  Embassy  and  the  Nunciature 
are  en  liaison.  They  know  that  I  am  a  visitor 
at  Larricarda's,  and  indeed  I  am  obliged  to  the 
secretary  of  the  Nunciature  for  the  wherewithal 
to  indulge  my  tastes.  He  is  my  creditor  to  a 
considerable  extent,  though  he  has  given  me 
unlimited  time." 


It 


138   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

"  Under  certain  conditions,  of  course ;  or 
rather  obligations  ?  "  I  suggested. 

M'yes,  if  you  will,"  answered  Koinoff  vaguely  ; 

but  they  are  not  definite  obligations.  I  am  not 
bound  to  compromise  myself  or  anyone  else, 
you  see." 

"  They  may  not  look  to  you  to  compromise 
anyone  else,"  I  objected.  ''  It  may  be  sufficient 
for  them  that  you  compromise  yourself  with 
them.  Has  that  not  occurred  to  you  ?  To  visit 
at  Baroness  Larricarda's,  where  your  standing 
among  the  habitual  guests  there  can  only  be  one 
of  uncertainty,  may  or  may  not  compromise  you ; 
but  to  gamble  with  men  who  are  not  only  a 
thousand  times  wealthier  than  yourself  but  who 
also  always  win  your  money,  as  you  admit  by 
implication — that,  my  dear  Koinoff,  is  compro- 
mising yourself  very  deeply.  You  do  not,  I 
presume,  think  that  the  Nunciature  is  supplymg 
you  with  money  wherewith  to  gamble,  solely  out 
of  pure  love  of  yourself — do  you  ?  " 

"  As  some  proof  that  I  am  not  exactly  such 
a  fool,"  replied  the  Feldkirchian,  "  I  have  just 
admitted  to  you  that  I  feared  actually  for  my 
soul — I  still  believe  to  that  extent." 

"  In  other  words,  then,  I  am  to  understand," 
I  suggested,  "  that  you  consider  yourself  to  be 
the  victim  of  a  conspiracy  which  is  seeking  to 
involve  you  so  deeply  that  you  must  in  the  end 
find  yourself  forced  to — m'render  service,  shall 
we  say  ?  " 

"  You    have    put   the    position    into    words," 


A  MAN  WITHOUT  A  COUNTRY   139 

replied  my  old  schoolfellow ;  "  and  now  you 
know  why  I  am  here.  What  is  it  we  used  to  say 
at  Feldkirch — non  cuivis  contigit  adire  Corin- 
thum.  We  cannot  all  get  to  Corinth ;  but  surely 
none  of  us  is  required  to  go  to  Hell.  I  have 
already  gone  a  long  way  in  that  direction,  but  I 
stop  at  giving  a  mortgage  on  my  soul." 

"  And  if  you  are  successful  in  finding  your  fifteen 
thousand  gulden — what  then  ?  " 

"  I  become  at  once  a  candidate  for  manu- 
mission, dear  boy  ;  I  buy  myself  fifteen  thousand 
gulden  worth  of  liberty,  and  become  a  free 
man.  In  other  words,  I  return  to  the  simple 
life." 

"  Well,  my  dear  Koinoff,"  said  I,  "I  can 
promise  you  your  required  sum  ;  so  relieve  your 
mind  on  that  score.  But  let  me  ask  you  :  of 
what  nationality  would  you  call  yourself  ?  " 

"  How  can  you  ask  ?  As  an  old  Feldkirchian, 
like  yourself,  I  am  an  Austrian,"  he  replied. 

"  But,"  I  objected,  "  as  an  ex-agent  of  the 
Berlin  Foreign  Office,  you  are  also  a  Prussian." 

"  Tut,"  came  the  ready  explanation,  "  in  the 
service  of  Berlin  no  birth-certificates  are  required. 
All  Bismarck  asks  is  a  certificate  of  character,  and 
it  must  be  a  certificate  of  had  character  at  that. 
You  see,  my  friend,  I  was  not,  like  yourself, 
porphyrogenitus,  as  we  used  to  call  it  at  Feld- 
kirch— not  born  in  the  purple,  and  had  to  make 
my  own  way.  Did  I  ever  tell  you,  for  instance, 
that  I  was  a  private  of  Field  Artillery  in  the 
service  of  Queen  Victoria  ?     No.     Well,  you  see. 


140    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

I  was,  as  it  happens  ;  but  I  am  not,  for  all  that,  a 
British  subject.  Like  yourself,  I  am  proficient  in 
the  language  of  Shakespeare,  and  in  London  they 
could  never  tell  I  was  a  foreigner  until  after  the 
nth  bottle,  when  my  f  s  and  d's  used  to  quarrel 
for  precedence,  and  then  they  took  me  for  a 
German.  Well,  in  London  once  I  met  an  agent 
of  the  Berlin  Secret  Service  who,  knowing  my 
proficiency  in  the  vernacular,  offered  me  the  then 
very  acceptable  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  if 
I  would  enlist  in  the  Field  Artillery  and  find  out 
certain  details  concerning  guns,  which  he  was 
anxious  to  obtain  for  the  Headquarters  Staff  in 
Berlin.  I  did  not  like  my  gentleman  very  much, 
and  was  angry  that  he  should  have  taken  me  to  be 
one  of  his  own  kidney.  I  determined,  therefore, 
to  teach  him  a  lesson  and  at  the  same  time  do 
a  little  business  on  my  own  account,  for  I  was 
hard  up  and  wanted  money  badly. 

"  I  therefore  agreed  to  his  terms,  stipulating 
for  an  advance  of  some  twenty  pounds  in  case 
of  accident,  so  that  I  should  be  able  to  purchase 
my  discharge — which  is  ten  pounds  under  three 
months'  service  in  England.  I  was  at  once  and 
without  question  accepted,  and  began  my  training 
at  Woolwich,  and  after  a  few  weeks  my  friend 
began  to  worry  me  hard  to  find  out  things.  He 
was  pressed,  he  told  me,  for  the  information,  and 
I  began  to  reflect  that  if,  as  I  could  easily  have 
done,  I  obtained  and  gave  him  the  information 
he  required,  I  might  have  to  whistle  for  my 
money — if  faces  went  for  anything.     So  I  began 


A  SECRET  SERVICE  AGENT  141 

to  remain  in  barracks  of  evenings  and  refused  to 
go  into  town  after  duty  hours.  My  friend,  as  I 
expected,  began  to  write  me  little  notes,  begging 
me  to  come  and  visit  him,  and  anyone  with  an 
eye  for  calligraphy  could  tell  that  the  writer  had 
been  made  in  Germany.  This  was  exactly  what 
I  wanted.  One  evening  I  issued  forth  and  he 
took  me  to  his  rooms — an  elaborate  suite — and 
then  some  fun  began.  I  wore  the  heavy  artillery- 
man's cloak,  and  in  one  of  the  pockets  had  put  a 
service  revolver.  On  the  way  to  his  rooms  I 
informed  him  that  I  had  all  the  information  he 
should  ever  require  about  British  ordnance.  When 
we  reached  his  lodgings  he  divested  himself  of 
his  overcoat,  seated  himself  at  his  writing-desk 
and  prepared  to  hear  the  tale.  And  as  he  com- 
fortably fixed  himself  in  his  chair,  I  drew  the 
revolver  and  covered  him. 

"  '  Hands  up  !  '  I  cried  ;  '  I  am  an  English 
detective.'  The  hands  went  up  with  typical 
Prussian  obedience  almost  before  my  man  had 
recovered  his  senses. 

"  '  Good,'  I  said  ;  '  you  just  keep  them  up 
and  let  me  examine  your  pockets.'  I  examined 
his  pockets,  but  could  find  no  revolver.  Knowing 
the  Prussian  Secret  Service  man,  however,  I  also 
knew  he  would  not  travel  without  arms. 

"  '  Where  is  your  revolver  ?  '  I  demanded, 
advising  him  at  the  same  time  to  keep  his 
hands  at  high  level.  He  motioned  to  his  over- 
coat, and  in  it  I  found  a  six-chamber,  which  I 
pocketed. 


142   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

"  '  Now,'  I  commanded,  '  walk  over  to  that 
corner  by  the  door,  and  turn  your  face  to  the  wall. 
Keep  your  hands  up.  When  I  have  examined 
your  valise  and  pocket-book  I  will  let  you  know 
what  o'clock  it  is.'  His  keys  were  on  the  table 
and  I  had  already  taken  a  wallet  from  his  breast- 
pocket. Li  both  I  found  bank-notes  worth  over 
two  hundred  pounds,  besides  letters  and  post 
cards,  all  of  Berlin  origin.  When  I  had  pocketed 
the  bank-notes  and  documents,  I  again  com- 
manded him  to  turn  about — still  hands  up.  Then 
I  took  stock  of  the  room,  a  second-floor  front 
parlour  with  only  one  door,  the  windows  over- 
looking a  steep  area  with  spiked  railings,  as  I 
already  knew.  He  would  never,  I  was  certain, 
risk  his  life  by  trying  to  jump  for  it. 

' '  There  was  a  free  space  to  the  opposite  angle  of 
the  room,  and  I  commanded  him  to  walk  to  it. 
Taking  the  key  from  the  door,  I  inserted  it  on 
the  outside.  Still  covering  him  with  my  revolver, 
I  advised  him  to  make  no  attempt  to  escape,  pend- 
ing the  arrival  of  the  police,  turned  the  key  in  the 
door  and  left  the  house.  I  had  my  Prussian  both 
ways,  for  I  knew  he  would  not  dare  to  denounce  me, 
and  as  I  also  had  his  money  safe  in  pocket,  con- 
cluded that  he  had  been  severely  enough  punished. 
I  consequently  did  not  trouble  the  police,  and  I 
knew  he  would  not.  The  next  day  I  put  down 
a  ten-pound  note  for  my  discharge,  and  within 
a  week  was  back  in  London.  The  Spartan 
morality  of  this  transaction  may,  of  course,  be 
open  to  question,  but  when  this  Prussian  scoundrel 


THE  POINT  OF  HONOUR  143 

took  me  for  a  spy  I  felt  sorely  hurt  in  my  honour 
— but  why  this  sudden  hilarity  ?  " 

"  Let  us  not  try  to  pluck  bright  honour  from 
the  pale-faced  moon,  as  a  certain  great  poet  puts 
it,  Koinoff.  Let  us  be  serious.  Do  you  know 
Count  Bombelles  ?  " 

"  I  have  seen  him  at  Galimberti's,  but  never 
met  him." 

"  Would  you  like  to  meet  him  ?  If  you  wish, 
he  can  be  very  useful  to  you,  and  as  you  are 
leaving  the  Nunciature,  you  will  probably  require 
useful  friends.  Can  you  meet  me,  say,  about 
five  o'clock  to-morrow  evening  ?  He  may  be 
here  then,  but,  of  course,  I  cannot  say  definitely. 
In  any  case,  come  ;  and  supposing  him  to  be  here, 
I  advise  you  to  say  nothing  about  your  departure 
from  Feldkirch  or  your  adventures  in  England. 
I  will  make  things  very  smooth  for  you,  and  you 
will  be  far  better  with  us  than  with  the  Nuncios. 
As  to  your  cheque — if  there  is  nothing  very 
pressing,  I  will  let  you  have  one  to-morrow  night 
for  the  sum  you  mention." 

The  Feldkirchian  having  assured  me  that 
there  was  nothing  pressing  m  regard  to  his 
financial  difficulties  for  the  moment,  we  drew 
our  meeting  to  a  close  with  a  promise  to  meet  on 
the  following  afternoon. 

In  the  sequel,  I  lost  nothing  by  my  advance 
to  Koinoff,  since  Bombelles,  who  in  such  matters 
— he  was  Rudolph's  Lord  Chamberlain — was 
master  of  the  Archducal  Exchequer,  reimbursed 
me  on  the  ground  of  private  expenditure  on  behalf 


144   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

of  the  Crown  Prince.  Koinoff  passed  into  our 
service,  although  Bombelles  flatly  decided  that 
he  should  retain  his  position  at  the  Nunciature 
and  continue  to  visit  at  Baroness  Larricarda's 
establishment.  The  old  Feldkirchian  was  advised, 
however,  to  avoid  the  card -tables,  and  he  pro- 
mised to  do  so,  although,  in  connection  with  his 
surrender  of  this  especial  vice  of  his,  he  was  the 
cause  of  a  characteristic  and  amusing  enough 
episode.  Among  the  Germans  who  had  won  most 
of  the  Pole's  money  was  a  military  attache  named 
von  Duglas,  said  to  be  of  Scottish  origin  and 
particularly  keen  in  money  matters.  He  it  was 
who  had  caused  the  old  Feldkirchian  to  visit  the 
Jews,  and  apparently  the  attache  had  looked 
forward  to  a  successful  winning  season  with  the 
member  of  the  Nunciature.  Koinoff  had,  I  knew, 
lost  to  him  fifteen  thousand  gulden,  all  of  which 
had  been  faithfully  paid  over.  About  the  time 
he  had  arranged  to  come  into  the  private  service 
of  Bombelles  he  had  also  discovered,  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  perusing  correspondence  from 
Berlin,  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Foreign 
Office  in  the  Wilhelmstrasze  to  recall  Duglas,  who 
was  to  be  replaced  by  another  military  attache, 
one  of  the  Waldersee  family,  I  think  ;  the  new 
arrival  was  due  to  report  for  duty  in  Vienna  on 
1st  October,  while  Duglas  would  in  due  course  be 
notified  to  return  to  Berlin  on  exactly  the  same 
date. 

The    latter   had,    I   was    assured    by    his  in- 
tended   victim,    been    continually   pestering   the 


INTP.LLIGENT  ANTICIPATION    145 

Feldkirchian  to  resume  play,  and  refused  to  accept 
Koinoff's  decision  to  give  up  the  cards.  By 
questioning  him,  the  Pole  discovered  that,  as  late 
as  the  evening  of  30th  September,  Duglas  was  as 
yet  in  ignorance  of  his  coming  recall  to  Berlin, 
and  as  the  military  attache  still  persisted  in 
seducing  him  from  his  resolve,  Koinoff  decided  to 
teach  him  a  lesson.  He  could  not,  he  told  Duglas, 
afford  the  long  runs  of  ill-luck  which  had  followed 
him  in  former  sessions  at  the  card-table  with  the 
military  attache  ;  besides,  he  added,  he  was  no 
match  scientifically  for  Duglas. 

Nevertheless,  to  prove  that  he  had  not  been 
chagrined  by  his  losses,  he  would  give  the  Prussian- 
Scot  a  set.  As  Koinoff  foresaw,  the  astute  Duglas 
allowed  him  the  full  length  of  his  tether  in  the  hope 
of  winning  everything  back  with  interest  on  the 
following  night,  and  as  so  often  happens  in  such 
cases,  the  cards  were  wholly  in  the  Pole's  favour, 
the  total  result  being  that  Duglas  lost  back  to  his 
old  victim  much  more  than  the  latter  had  just 
recently  paid  him.  On  return  to  his  quarters,  the 
Prussian  attache  duly  found  the  peremptory  letter 
of  recall  to  Berlin,  his  revanche  as  against  Koinoff 
being  thus  adjourned  indefinitely,  much  to  our 
new  recruit's  advantage  and  pleasure. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Kinsky  arrives  in  Vienna— Occupies  my  Flat — We  discuss  the 
Crown  Prince  Frederick's  Malady — Also  the  Future  Kaiser, 
Wilhelm  11. — His  Napoleonomania — Professor  Buckle's 
Ideas — Prince  Henry  of  Prussia  and  a  Danseuse — To  Berlin 
for  the  Obsequies  of  the  Emperor  William  I.— I  meet  Count 
Herbert  Bismarck — Prince  William's  Dislike  of  Herbert — The 
Dismissal  of  Ministers  considered — Napoleon's  Mistakes — 
Fascination  of  all  the  Bismarcks — Herbert  a  Misanthrope — 
A  Choice  of  Emperors — Hoping  for  the  Best — I  study  some 
Enigmas — Meeting  with  Wolfram 

For  the  New  Year  of  1888  "  London  "  Kinsky, 
as  we  used  to  call  him,  on  private  affairs  from 
England,  arrived  in  Vienna.  At  his  own  sugges- 
tion, and  during  my  absence  on  duties  with  the 
Archduke,  he  occupied  my  fiat  for  his  intended 
brief  stay.  Accordingly,  and  also  for  the  reason 
that  soon  the  Archduke  began  paying  a  round  of 
private  family  and  other  visits,  I  was  enabled  to 
see  more  of  my  amiable  friend  than  would  have 
been  possible  in  normal  times.  At  the  suggestion 
of  the  vigilant  Bombelles,  and  acting  upon  informa- 
tion which  Koinoff  had  given  us  as  a  result  of  his 
experience  among  the  service-agents  of  Berlin, 
I  made  my  visitor  acquainted  with  the  special 
precautions  we  had  for  some  time  been  taking  to 
watch  the  political  currents,  under-currents  and 
cross-currents  which  made  Berlin  in  those  days 
the  cynosure  of  much  diplomatic  speculation. 
And  of  course  the  case  of  the  Crown  Prince 

146 


KINGS  AND  CROWN  PRINCES        147 

Frederick  entered  for  a  great  consideration  into 
our  conversation,  as  indeed,  it  was  a  topic  of 
much  interest  everywhere  in  Continental  Europe, 
in  view  of  the  ambiguous  personality  and  character 
of  the  prince  who  was  to  succeed  him.  Already 
as  to  the  fatal  nature  of  Frederick's  malady  there 
also  existed  much  speculation  and  interested 
factions  were  all  preparing  against  the  possibilities 
hidden  in  a  darkly  apprehended  future. 

"  St  James's  still  talks  of  Rudolph's  retort  to 
Prince  William,"  Kinsky  observed  one  evening; 
"  and  there  are  many,  I  think,  in  London,  as  well  as 
here  and  in  Berlin,  who  consider  that  the  innuendo 
touched  truth.    Yourself — what  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  The  history  of  thrones  has  nearly  always 
discovered  opposition  between  reigning  princes 
and  their  future  successors,"  I  replied.  "  The 
House  of  Hohenzollern  has  given  proofs,  through- 
out, of  greater  possibilities  in  this  respect  than 
any  other  dynasty,  and  has  certainly  shown  more 
intrigue  in  its  Crown  Princes.  And  intrigue  doesr 
not  always  stop  at  political  opposition  and  personal 
hates.  Parricides  have  been  common  enough  in 
history,  and  I  am  not  of  those  who  think  that 
mankind,  including  Crown  Princes,  Men  entendu, 
has  improved  morally  simply  because  we  have 
several  hundred  more  religions  than  in  the  ages 
when  poison  entered  more  publicly  into  political 
combinations." 

"  Everything  is,  of  course,  uncertain,  and  all  this 
is  mere  speculation,"  said  Kinsky,  who  was  my 
senior  by  some  years;  "  what  is  certain,  however, 


148   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

is  that  Prince  William  is  the  head  of  a  small  but 
select  faction  which  is  ambitious  of  seeing  him 
reign,  and  few  of  them  would  object  to  any  means 
which  would  give  him  a  swift  accession.  He  is 
not  more  popular  in  London  than  elsewhere,  but 
there  it  is  the  general  opinion  that  his  advent  to 
the  throne  at  this  time  of  his  life  will  mean,  first, 
as  regards  ourselves,  completing  the  work  of 
reducing  Austria  to  the  condition  of  a  German 
State,  an  act  from  which  Bismarck  himself  shrank 
after  Sadowa  ;  and  secondly,  as  regards  France, 
a  renewal  of  the  attentat  of  1875,  when  consoli- 
dated Germany,  but  for  the  attitude  of  Russia 
and  Britain,  would  have  attacked  her  again. 
Bismarck  is  right,  and  knows  why  Antipater  is  not 
Philopater,  as  he  puts  it,  the  whole  matter  being 
one  of  personal  ambition  on  the  part  of  Prince 
William,  who  does  not  care  how  soon  his  sire  is 
translated.     Have  you  heard  of  his  latest-found 


mania 


?  " 


You   mean   the    imitations   in   the    style   of 
Frederick  the  Great  ?  "  I  suggested. 

"  No ;  still  higher  than  that,"  replied  Kinsky. 
"His  most  recent  pose  is  Bonaparte,  and  the  real 
reason  why  he  was  so  long  laid  up  at  Charlotten- 
burg  was  not  because  of  his  alleged  illness,  but 
because  he  had  already  gone  the  length  of  the 
requirements  of  the  picture  by  shaving  his  upper 
lip — di.  breach  of  the  military  regulations,  of  course. 
His  Consort,  they  tell,  is  suffering  an  especially 
bad  time  as  a  result  of  this  Napoleonomania,  and 
daily  has  to  listen  to  querulous  retorts  of  the 


PROFESSOR  BUCKLE'S  NOTIONS    149 

"  ordinary-laws-do-not -apply-to-me  "  type — Bona- 
parte's stock  excuse,  you  may  remember,  when 
Josephine  used  to  discover  him  with  strange 
women.  But  surely  you  have  heard  that  Prince 
William  imports  all  his  vegetables  and  table- 
poultry  from  Ajaccio  ?  " 

'*  Indeed  no  !  And  why  ?  "  I  inquired,  in  much 
wonderment. 

"  You  surprise  me,  for  it  is  known  in  London," 
returned  Kinsky ;  "  but  it  is  a  positive  fact. 
Prince  William  has  lately  been  reading  the  English 
historian  of  Civilisation,  Professor  Buckle.  This 
luminary's  central  idea  is  that  men  derive  their 
specific  characteristics,  mental,  moral,  physical, 
und  so  wetter,  principally  from  the  food  on  which 
they  are  "  raised,"  as  the  Americans  say.  Thus 
the  Chinese  derive  their  temperamental  calm, 
or  stoicism,  from  the  fact  that  their  staple  food 
is  rice  ;  on  the  same  analogy,  an  Englishman 
derives  his  mental  robustiousness  and  stamina 
from  his  devotion  to  beef ;  and  when  you  reflect 
that  the  Prussian  is  practically  brought  up  on 
pig  and  sauerkraut,  you  do  not  require  to 
meditate  any  further  on  the  causes  which  have 
made  him  not  other  than  he  is — if  Buckle  is  right. 

"Now  observe  :  Prince  William  read  the  Pro- 
fessor's work  and  its  ideas  made  an  instantaneous 
appeal  to  his  type  of  mentality.  It  was  about  the 
same  time  that  he  was  excogitating  his  Napoleonic 
pose,  and  like  most  of  the  inspirations  of  genius, 
it  flashed  upon  him  that,  given  the  logic  of  the 
Professor's  hypothesis,  Napoleon  must  have  owed 


150   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

much  of  his  conquistadorial  characteristics  to  the 
products  of  the  soil  upon  which  he  Hved  for  the 
first  decade  of  his  life.  And  the  result  is  that 
almost  everything  William  eats  nowadays  is 
directly  imported  from  Corsica.  But  you  appear 
to  doubt  me,  my  dear  fellow  ?  I  assure  you 
there  is  no  cause  to  doubt  what  I  say.  I  had  it 
from  Wolfram.  You  remember  my  young  cousin 
Wolfram  ?  He  is  a  big  fellow  now,  lives  in  Berlin, 
and  is  so  enamoured  of  it  that  he  threatens  to  die 
there — that  is,  of  course,  if  he  is  not  murdered 
there." 

"  I  remember  him  well,  a  very  pleasant  youth. 
But  why  murdered  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Why,  you  see,"  replied  Kinsky,  slowly  puffing 
his  cheroot,  "  he  has  antagonised  some  important 
people  in  Berlin — Prince  Henry  the  Navigator 
among  them.  You  remember  Christiane  Strom- 
berg,  the  operatic  star  ?  " 

"  I  remember  her,"  I  replied  ;  "  the  particular 
friend  of  Prince  Henry,  a  very  buxom  Swede." 

"  Well,  Christiane  has  deserted  the  Navigator 
— and  for  Wolfram.  She  and  her  Prince  have 
quarrelled  very  badly,  and  the  Swede  threatens  to 
tell  all  she  knows  if  he  persists  in  annoying  her. 
As  a  financial  speculation.  Wolfram  is  well  worth 
the  exchange,  for  you  know  the  Hohenzollem 
breed,  and  the  boy  is,  in  any  case,  far  better  off. 
But  the  worst  aspect  of  the  affair  is  that  Christiane 
is  seriously  Uprise  of  Wolfram  ;  and  in  Berlin  it 
is  a  bad  thing  when  the  Castle  is  despoiled,  as 
they  say  there." 


COUNT  HERBERT  BISMARCK        151 


(( 


Is  there  any  particular  reason  for  him  to  remain 
in  Berhn  ?     The  world  is  wide,"  said  I. 

"  There  is  no  reason,"  replied  Kinsky,  "  except 
his  infatuation  for  the  capital,  for  he  does  not 
like  the  natives,  and  is  as  anti-Prussian  as  Rudolph 
himself  could  desire.  But  he  is  like  all  our  tribe, 
hartnaeckig — obstinate,  and  even  the  suggestion 
of  danger  cannot  fail  to  keep  him  where  he  is 
if  he  decides  that  it  will  prove  exciting  to  do  so." 

I  was  to  meet  my  young  friend  Wolfram  much 
sooner  than  I  expected,  and  in  connection  with  an 
event  which  took  us,  as  representatives  of  Vienna, 
to  the  obsequies  of  the  old  Emperor  William,  who 
passed  away  in  the  early  part  of  March  1888. 
On  the  day  succeeding  our  arrival  in  the  Prussian 
Capital,  and  during  the  early  morning  walk  which 
I  have  not  once  missed  in  thirty-five  years,  I  met 
Herbert  Bismarck  in  the  Gardens.  He  was 
certainly  a  most  forbidding  person  to  look  at, 
and  it  was  well  known  that  Prince  William  of 
Prussia — by  this  time  Crown  Prince — was  fairly 
unable  to  face  the  disconcerting  fixity  of  look 
which  characterised  Bismarck  Junior.  Indeed, 
it  is  telling  nothing  that  is  not  well  known  among 
diplomatic  officials  who  knew  Berlin  then,  that 
it  was  much  less  fear  of  the  elder  Bismarck — the 
old  Emperor  and  even  the  Crown  Prince  Frederick 
were  certainly  in  abject  fear  of  his  overmastering 
method  and  manner — than  a  sheer  inability  to 
face  the  younger,  that  moved  William  II.,  on  his 
subsequent  accession,  to  rid  himself  of  the  possi- 
bility of  having  to  employ  the  latter  by  dismissing 


152   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

the  former,  who  in  giving  to  his  eldest-bom 
the  highly  important  post  of  Foreign  Secretary 
— which  he  now  held — had  practically  designated 
his  successor  in  the  greatest  office  in  the  State. 

Neither  is  it  any  secret — more  especially  at 
this  time — that  the  extravagant  reputation  which 
William  11.  has  won  since  his  accession  has  been 
due  in  the  first  place  to  a  very  ably  organised 
personal  press-agency,  which  keeps  him  well  before 
the  world ;  and  in  the  second,  to  the  undoubted 
fact  that  his  ministers  and  chosen  commanders 
are  men  who  are  afraid  of  him — a  characteristic 
which  he  and  all  masters  who  choose  the  line  of 
least  resistance  like  to  find  in  their  subordinates. 
Jn  this  respect,  both  his  grandfather  and  father 
clearly  showed  their  possession  of  a  higher  and 
truer  patriotism  than  Kaiser  Wilhelm  has  ever 
shown;  for  much  as  the  elders  disliked  their 
masterful  and  often  contemptuous  Chancellor, 
they  fully  realised  their  own  puny  importance  for 
Germany  beside  him. 

I  trust  I  do  not  offend  the  historical  intelligence 
of  the  reader  on  recalling  that  when  Napoleon 
developed  his  mania  for  dismissing  men  who  were 
able  to  face  him  and  argue  with  him,  the  stability 
of  his  Empire  came  at  once  into  question;  and 
it  is  an  interesting  enough  historical  consideration 
that  his  decline  coincided  with  the  dismissal  of  his 
very  ablest  servant — Talleyrand.  Indeed,  one  of 
the  most  human  and  pathetic  cries  which  we  hear 
from  Napoleon  in  all  his  turbulent  career  is  that  of 
1813,  after  Dresden,  when  he  calls  in  vain  for  his 


A  NATIONAL  MISANTHROPE        153 

old  Foreign  Minister  in  the  tragic  words  :  '"''  Ah,  si 
f  avals  cet  autre  ;  il  me  tirerait  bien  d' affaire  /  "  ^ 

There  was  certainly  a  wondrous  fascination 
about  all  these  Bismarcks  when  they  cared  to 
exert  it ;  but  it  is  also  certain  that  in  respect  of 
their  powers  of  fascination  they  were  excellent 
economists.  Charm  which  is  always  and  for  ever 
dispensing  itself  on  all  who  come  within  the  radius 
of  its  operations,  in  the  end  becomes  about  as 
effectual  as  the  perennial  optimism  of  those  curious 
little  beings  who  do  not  realise  that  it  is  the 
pessimists  who  rule  the  world — ^the  men  who  seek 
in  toil  to  forget  that  they  are  alive,  and  anent 
which  M.  de  Voltaire  has  taught  us  something 
in  his  philosophy  of  cultivating  one's  garden.  I 
have  stated  my  opinion  elsewhere  that  Herbert 
Bismarck  was  a  natural  misanthrope,  though  I 
feel  bound  to  say  that  his  dislike  of  mankind  did 
not  extend  to  its  fairer  portion.  He  had  few  male 
friends,  and,  like  most  men  of  ability,  neither 
sought  to  extend  his  friendships,  nor  looked  for 
that  most  cheaply  achieved  of  all  acquisitions — 
personal  popularity.  I  had  met  him  perhaps 
oftener  than  any  other  grand  official  of  the  Berlin 
world,  and  though  under  no  illusions  as  to  the 
depth  of  his  regard  for  myself,  had  always  found 
in  him  a  cordiality  and  courtesy  which  much  more 
important  men  of  my  acquaintance  envied  me. 
Our  recognition  was  reciprocal. 

'  The  analogy  here  suggested  is  obviously  meant  to  have  a 
general  application  to  the  policy  of  William  II.  as  regards  able 
servants  ;  for  had  Bismarck  been  alive  in  August  191 4,  his  age 
would  have  been  nearly  one  hundred  years  ! — Editor. 


154   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

"  You  come  under  doubly  melancholy  circum- 
stances," he  said,  in  his  high,  "  tearful"  voice,  so 
like  his  father's.  "  Indeed  you  may  find  it  con- 
venient to  prolong  your  stay  ;  the  shadow  of 
Death  still  remains." 

I  looked  at  him  questioningly,  and  he  answered, 
in  very  solemn  tones  : 

"  You  have  heard  that  the  Emperor  Frederick 
is  also  laid  low  ?  The  Prince  was  summoned 
before  dawn  this  morning.  We  are  within  an  ace 
of  two  Imperial  funerals.  Has  that  ever  happened 
in  history,  or  is  Berlin  to  establish  the  precedent  ?  " 

I  confessed  that  I  had  never  heard  of  the  simul- 
taneous burial  of  two  sovereigns  of  the  same 
dynasty. 

"We  had,  of  course,  heard  in  Vienna,"  I  said, 
"  that  the  Emperor  Frederick's  case  was  very 
bad  ;  but  the  latest  reports  there  are  that  the 
surgeons  can  succeed  in  prolonging  his  life.  I 
was  at  San  Remo  with  the  Archduke,  and  there 
the  same  opinion  prevailed." 

"  These  are  fables,  my  friend.  For  my  father's 
sake,  as  well  as  for  Germany's,  I  would  give  my 
right  arm  that  such  might  be  the  case.  But  it 
cannot  be  ;  his  death  is  all  but  registered.  We 
shall  soon  have  a  new  Kaiser,  and  " — he  added 
thoughtfully — "  with  the  new  man,  new  measures 
— who  can  say  ?  What  does  the  Archduke 
think  ?  " 

I  was  quite  well  aware  what  the  Archduke 
thought  about  the  matter,  and  had  no  misgivings 
whatever  that  the  Bismarcks  were  perfectly  well 


HOPING  FOR  THE  BEST  155 

acquainted  with  his  view  that,  given  the  chance 
to  live,  there  was  some  hope  of  prolonging  the 
Emperor's  life.  The  elder  Bismarck  feared  that 
the  overwhelming  influence  of  the  English  Empress 
Frederick  over  her  husband  must  mean  the 
lessening  of  his  own  influence,  if  not  his  destruc- 
tion ;  on  the  other  hand,  like  most  old  men  who 
have  lorded  it  long,  he  overlooked  the  danger  to 
himself  of  the  accession  of  a  vain  youth  like  Prince 
William,  still  in  his  twenties.  As  often  happens, 
however,  with  very  strong  men.  Prince  Bismarck 
feared  the  woman  and  favoured  what  he  thought 
to  be  the  less  dangerous  alternative — Prince 
William.  Herbert  Bismarck,  on  the  contrary, 
nearer  the  age  of  the  youthful  Crown  Prince,  was 
better  fitted  to  divine  the  intentions  of  the  head- 
strong William,  and  realised  that  the  true  German 
patriotism  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  was  likely 
to  override  the  influence  of  his  English  Consort. 
This  at  least  he  made  clear  to  me,  for  in  answer 
to  his  question  as  to  what  the  Archduke  tTiought, 
I  replied,  with  just  a  touch  of  enigma  : 

"  As  an  Austrian,  Count,  my  master  hopes  for 
the  best.  All  Europe,  I  think,  wishes  to  see  the 
Emperor  Frederick  reign." 

"  Well,"  he  answered  candidly,  "  when  I  told 
you  that  for  my  father's  sake,  as  well  as  that  of 
Germany,  I  would  sacrifice  my  right  arm,  I  too 
showed  that  I  hope  for  the  best.  My  father's 
policy  towards  Austria  has  always  been  the  best 
policy.  Do  you  know  that  the  dead  Emperor, 
to  the  very  last,  had  his  eyes  fixed  on  Bohemia  ? 


156   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

If  the  Emperor  Frederick,  who  hates  war,  were 
given  a  long  reign,  my  father's  policy  would 
endure.  If  he  dies — ah,  then  I  could  certainly 
not  hope  for  the  best."     And  we  parted. 

I  was  sufficiently  well  acquainted  with  diplo- 
matic ways  and  means  to  be  aware  that  this 
expression  of  opinion  by  Count  Herbert  was  not 
intended  to  remain  locked  up  in  the  breast  of  the 
Archduke's  personal  secretary.  The  Bismarcks, 
both  father  and  son,  were  first-class  Prussians, 
and  loved  their  country  as  religious  men  love 
their  faith.  And  I  knew  that  any  "  best  policy  " 
adopted  as  regards  my  own  country  arose  in  no 
way  from  sentimental  consideration  entertained 
by  Bismarck  towards  the  House  of  Habsburg. 
Indeed,  had  Russia  replied  favourably  and  fully 
to  his  advances  in  those  days,  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Empire  must  long  since  have  been 
dismembered.  As  it  was,  she  served  as  the  only 
effective  buffer  state  between  Russia  and  Germany, 
and  Bismarck  was  a  past  master  in  making 
virtuous  acts,  which  were  forced  upon  him  by 
sheer  policy,  to  appear  as  if  they  sprang  from 
conscientious  and  honourable  motives. 

So,  then,  what  was  I  to  think  ?  Was  this  a 
warning  from  Bismarck,  voiced  through  his  son, 
to  the  Archduke  Rudolph,  that  in  view  of  the 
certain  doom  of  the  Emperor  Frederick,  and 
the  succession  of  a  prince  with  William's  known 
proclivities  and  ambitions,  Germany  would  re- 
gard as  openly  hostile  to  herself  all  attempt  to 
promote  a  strong  national  democratic  movement 


A  CHANCE  ACQUAINTANCE  157 

among  the  peoples  of  the  Dual  Monarchy, 
and  would  present  Austria  with  the  alternative 
of  war  in  case  of  her  refusal  to  fall  in  with  the 
Chancellor's  views  as  to  what  was  most  suited 
to  her  internal  policies  ?  Or  was  the  conversa- 
tion suggested  by  the  elder  Bismarck  to  his 
ever-filial  son,  with  the  object  of  destroying  any 
suspicions  that  all  was  not  well  in  the  consulting- 
rooms  of  those  who  had  the  charge  of  preserving, 
if  they  could,  the  life  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  ? 

Meditating  these  enigmas,  and  much  immersed 
in  them,  I  felt  a  friendly  hand  laid  upon  my 
shoulder,  and  on  turning  beheld  the  person  I  was 
most  anxious  to  see — Wolfram. 

"  My  cousin  has  written  to  me  several  times 
from  London,"  he  said.  "  I  know  you  want 
to  talk." 


CHAPTER  XII 

San  Remo's  Crowd  of  Notables — Physicians  and  Surgeons — Sir 
Morell  Mackenzie — Political  Aspects  of  Frederick's  Malady 
— His  Consort's  Intervention — What  History  will  say  of 
Frederick's  Death — Bismarck's  Russophilism — An  Imperial 
Counsel — Bismarck's  Press-Agency  Work — Austrian  and 
English  Views — Foresight  of  Two  Heirs- Apparent — Real 
Greatness  of  King  Edward — A  RomanofE  Grand  Duke — 
Rudolph's  Independence  of  Character — German  Gutter-Press 
Stories^The  Archduke's  Title  to  Respect — His  Versatility — 
An  Essay  and  Some  Correspondence 

Before  visiting  Berlin,  two  important  visits 
were  made  by  the  Archduke  Rudolph,  who  was 
accompanied  by  Count  Potocki  and  myself  ;  one 
to  San  Remo,  where  many  royal  and  imperial 
notabilities  had  assembled,  among  them  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  also  Prince  William  of 
Prussia,  whose  sire  was  already  in  residence  at 
this  time,  under  the  care  of  that  group  of  physicians 
of  whom  mention  has  been  made  in  previous 
chapters.  I  am  not  especially  a  believer  in 
physicians  of  what  is  called,  I  believe,  the  patho- 
logical breed,  as  apart  from  the  uEsculapians,  who 
carve  into  us,  saw  unhealthy  portions  of  our 
frames,  treat  us  for  organ -troubles  and  otherwise 
play  butcher's  shop  with  our  anatomical  furniture. 
Myself,  I  have  found  the  three-day  starvation 
cure  on  a  milk  diet  do  all  that  my  ailments  have 
ever  required  to  effect  their  removal,  and  an 
erstwhile   countryman   of   mine,   the    Carinthian 

158 


WHAT  HISTORY  WILL  SAY         159 

Doctor  Bancke,  was,  so  far  as  I  know,  its  inventor. 
The  experts  surrounding  Frederick  m  ere,  however, 
the  first  surgeons  in  German  countries,  and  I  am 
far  from  wondering  at  the  jealous  irritation  they 
displayed  when  Doctor  Morell  Mackenzie  appeared 
on  the  scene  as  chief  operator  on  the  stricken 
Crown  Prince. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  go  into  the  question  of 
Mackenzie's  fitness  for  this  particular  work.  To 
my  own  way  of  thinking,  he  was  a  transparently 
honest  Englishman,  and  what  he  had  to  say 
publicly  regarding  the  intrigues  which  played 
around  the  couch  of  the  Crown  Prince  Frederick 
proved  a  sufficient  answer  to  his  adverse  critics. 
I  regard  rather  the  political  point  of  view,  and 
although  the  suggestion  was  only  faintly  heard 
at  the  time  that  the  Prince's  death  was  hoped 
for  by  a  prominent  camarilla  of  militarists  in 
Berlin,  there  is  no  reason  now  for  disguising  the 
fact  that  this  was  really  so.  Accordingly,  it  is 
not  surprising  to  hear  that  it  was  at  the  insistence 
of  his  English  Consort,  the  Crown  Princess  Victoria, 
who  might  be  expected  to  understand  the  con- 
ditions of  the  entire  case,  and  who  acted  in  co- 
operation with  the  Prince  of  Wales,  that  the  great 
London  surgeon  was  summoned — perhaps  too  late 
— to  attend  on  Frederick. 

It  requires  no  vast  imagination  to  foresee  what 
truthful  history  will  have  to  say  anent  this  episode ; 
it  must  in  any  case  consider  it,  not  only  in  respect 
of  the  master  spirit  of  a  conspiracy  which  was 
willing  to  go  to  the  extreme  of  crime  in  order  to 


160   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

achieve  its  ends,  but  more  particularly  in  view  of 
the  crimes  of  Meyerling  and  Serajevo,  which  must 
suggest  themselves  as  corollaries  to  the  nefast 
intrigues  surrounding  the  last  days  of  the  second 
Emperor  of  the  German  Confederation.  And 
where  has  history  failed  to  state  the  ineluctable 
law  of  compensation  ?  In  which  case  has  it  not 
demonstrated  that  power  bought  by  crime  can 
be  maintained  only  by  crime  ?  That  even  a 
militarism  like  that  of  Napoleon,  led  by  the  most 
spectacular  military  genius  of  the  world,  could  not 
survive  in  a  reasoning  age,  nor  live  except  in  the 
dreams  of  minds  diseased?  Yea,  History  itself 
is  the  first  best  argument  for  the  existence  of 
God,  as  well  as  for  the  principle  of  retributive 
Justice  in  the  world. 

Among  the  many  notabilities  at  San  Remo,  in 
the  winter  of  1887-1888  was  an  eminent  Grand 
Duke  of  the  Romanoffs,  who  has  since  passed 
away.  At  this  time,  I  may  say,  Prince  Bismarck 
was  working  all  the  forces  he  could  assemble, 
with  the  object  of  maintaining  the  very  specious 
friendship  which  Prussia  was  professing  towards 
the  Muscovites.  In  a  previous  decade  he  had 
been  successful  in  detaching  Russia  from  any- 
thing in  the  nature  of  an  entente  with  France,  a 
traditional  idea  in  Franco-Russian  policies  dating 
from  the  Second  Catherine's  day.  Memories  of 
the  Crimea  had  not  entirely  died  out  in  Russia. 
France  still  remembered  1870;  Bismarck  had 
played  on  every  possible  antipathy  nourished  by 
the  two  Powers,  and  about  this  time  he  was  in  a 


BISMARCKIAN  PRESS-AGENTS       161 

position  to  congratulate  himself  on  a  successful 
achievement  in  point.  Although  chronologically 
I  am  out  of  place,  I  wish  here  to  state  that  the 
advice,  in  regard  to  Russia,  said  to  have  been 
given  to  his  son  and  grandson,  the  Crown  Prince 
Frederick  and  Prince  William  of  Prussia,  by  the 
old  Emperor  William  on  his  death-bed  in  March 
1888 — namely,  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  preserve 
the  good  will  and  friendship  of  the  Tsar  Alexander 
— this,  I  may  say,  was  a  pure  invention  of  the 
Prussian  Chancellor,  and  was  given  by  Bismarck, 
through  his  henchman  Abenken,  to  the  Press,  as 
having  been  the  spontaneous  counsel  of  the  dying 
monarch.  Here,  indeed,  was  a  very  characteristic 
piece  of  Bismarckian  press-agency  work,  the 
echoes  of  which  he  meant  to  work  their  effects 
on  all  the  Powers  w  hich  are  to-day  at  war.  Proof 
of  this  bit  of  strategy  on  the  part  of  the  Chancellor 
was  given  us  in  Vienna  by  the  chief  of  the  well- 
known  Taafe  tribe.  This  Austro-Irishman,  as 
he  was  fond  of  calling  himself,  was  then  Prime 
Minister  to  Kaiser  Franz,  and  possessed  excellent 
sources  of  information. 

As  it  may  be  supposed,  the  Bismarckian  idea 
was  far  from  commending  itself  either  to  my 
master  or  to  his  far-seeing  friend,  the  English 
Heir-Apparent ;  for  under  the  conditions  of  a  con- 
federated Germany,  anything  in  the  shape  of  an 
alliance  between  Russia  and  the  Confederation 
must  have  meant  a  revival  of  the  old  Napoleon- 
Alexander  idea  of  Tilsit  days — namely,  a  division 
of  the  Continent,  in  which  Eastern  Europe — includ- 


162  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

ing  part  of  Austria — would  have  been  at  the  mercy 
of  Russia,  and  Western  Europe  at  that  of  Germany. 
It  is  testimony  to  the  statesmanHke  prevision  of 
both  the  Archduke  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  that 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  the  War 
of  1914,  both  of  them  had  clearly  foreseen  that 
Prussian  ambitions  already  contemplated  a  tem- 
porary division  of  Continental  Europe,  after 
which  one  final  war  would  be  waged  between  the 
twin  masters  for  the  possession  of  Constantinople 
and  the  maritime  supremacy  held  by  England. 

Personally,  I  have  been  privileged  to  listen  to 
conversations  held  by  my  master  and  the  English 
Prince,  in  which  was  discussed  the  programme  as 
mapped  out  in  a  work  much  read  in  recent  years — 
namely,  the  forecast  by  Baron  Bernhardi  as  to 
Germany's  conquistadorial  ambitions ;  and  when  in 
these  days  I  reflect  on  those  discussions,  I  realise 
that  the  two  heirs  had  forecogitated  Prussia's 
plans  almost  to  the  last  intention.  This  fact  itself 
explains  why  the  English  Prince,  on  acceding  to 
the  Throne,  lost  no  time  in  preparing  France  and 
persuading  Russia,  in  the  course  of  those  memor- 
able visits  which  practically  aligned  in  battle  order 
the  forces  of  Liberty  against  those  of  Feudalism, 
and  it  is  for  this  reason  I  hold  that  history  will  place 
that  English  King  among  the  greatest  of  Britons. 
But,  alas,  by  the  time  of  Edward's  accession, 
Rudolph  had  many  years  been  buried  with  a 
hundred  Habsburg  forbears  under  the  old  Capuchin 
Church  of  Vienna,  and  a  withering  change  had 
come  upon  the  spirit  of  my  country's  vision. 


ATTACKING  AN  HEIR-APPARENT     163 

With  the  Grand  Duke  from  Muscovy,  one  of  the 

haughtiest  and   least  affable  of  the  Romanoffs, 

who  was  then  visiting  San  Remo,  matters  were 

under  some  constraint  as  far  as  my  master  was 

concerned ;    for,    as    I    have    previously    stated, 

Rudolph  was  the  veriest  of  Kelts  in  his  inability 

to  disguise  feelings  of  antipathy,  and  the  Russian 

was  well  known  to  him  to  be  in  sympathy  with 

Bismarck's  Russophile  notions  and  schemes.     This 

characteristic  of  the  Archduke  was,  in  the  opinion 

of  men  who  knew  him  better  than  I  could  have 

known  him,  due  not  so  much  to  any  ideas  that 

his  exalted  rank  excused  him,  for  he  was  the 

bravest  of  men  and  permitted  neither  himself  nor 

others  to  show  an  unworthy  arrogance  to  those 

placed  in  a  position  inferior  to  his  own,  or  to  that 

of  his  companions ;  and  so  it  was  that  he  was  most 

popular  with  the  humblest  of  those  who  served  him. 

Intellectually  he  was  a  man  of  great  independ- 
ence, and  was  capable,  as  the  Prince  of  Wales 
once  told  him,  in  my  hearing,  of  contradicting 
even  Mr  Gladstone,  had  he  considered  that 
eminent  student  and  statesman  to  be  in  the 
wrong.  It  was  in  him,  for  example,  to  appear  in 
the  funeral  cortege  of  the  old  Emperor  William 
in  the  uniform  of  the  Bohemian  Regiment  of  which 
he  was  Colonel,  although  etiquette  dictated  that 
he  should  have  appeared  in  that  of  a  Colonel  of 
the  Prussian  Army.  Those  who  remember  the 
German  Gutter  Press  of  those  days  will  have  no 
difficulty  in  recallmg  a  series  of  attacks  which 
were  made  on  the  Archduke  as  a  result  of  his  visit 


164   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

to  San  Remo,  where,  it  was  said  by,  among  others, 
the  Hamburger  Nachrichten,  his  role  was  merely 
"  that  of  a  busybody." 

A  story  was  related  of  a  public  quarrel  in  which 
he  had  indulged  with  the  Russian  Grand  Duke  of 
whom  I  have  spoken — a  scene  which  had  arisen  as 
a  result  of  a  discussion  of  the  then  existing  position 
of  Austria- Hungary  among  the  Powers,  one  of  those 
dangerous  topics  which  even  the  most  diplomatic  of 
men  will  touch  upon  in  their  deeper  cups.     I  have 
said  elsewhere  that,  in  my  experience,  there  is  a 
generous  amount  of  human  nature  in  princesses ; 
princes  are  not  found  to  form  any  exception,  and 
if  the  Archduke  was  on  this  occasion  accused  by 
German  papers  of  having  paid  too  heavy  a  tribute 
to  Bacchus,  it  was  not  so  much  that  the  charge 
was   true,    as   that   the    scene   was    particularly 
outrageous,  suggesting  the  drinking  hall  rather 
than  the  banquet  hall.     It  may  be  remembered 
that  Prince  William  of  Prussia  had  not  long  before 
been  guilty  of  a  similar  lapse  from  diplomatic 
decorum,   which  had   been   severely   commented 
upon  by  Austrian,  English  and  French   papers. 
Inspiration  was  certainly  not  lacking  to  the  scribes 
of  the  Wilhelmstrasze  and  Charlottenburg. 

As  I  have  before  stated,  the  people,  from  mere 
hearsay,  founded  on  no  reliable  facts,  imbibe  some 
strange  notions  of  the  foibles  of  their  princes  and 
their  leading  men.  It  was  commonly  thought 
in  Vienna  that  the  Archduke  Rudolph  was  not 
only  a  confirmed  drinker  but  that  he  was  also  a 
victim  of  the  drug  vice.    As  to  these  charges,  I 


A  CREDITABLE  ARCHDUKE         165 

am  in  the  fortunate  position  of  being  able,  from 
my  own  opportunities  for  observation,  to  oppose 
a  complete  denial.  As  an  athlete  and  gymnast, 
there  were  few  amateurs  alive  who  were  superior 
to  him,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  late  Sir  Charles 
Dilke,  himself  an  eminent  fencing  expert,  the 
Archduke  was  one  of  the  first  foilsmen  in  Europe. 
As  a  big-game  shot  he  also  excelled,  and  in  regard 
to  attentiveness  to  his  public  duties  no  prince  or 
sovereign  in  Europe  was  more  punctilious.  He 
was,  moreover,  a  deep  student  of  economic  ques- 
tions, and  those  connected  with  Labour  were 
especially  attractive  to  him ;  his  bent  in  the 
higher  literatures  was  towards  history  and  meta- 
physical speculation,  while  all  men  of  note  in 
Europe  who  had  met  him  were  unanimous  in 
praising  the  soundness  of  his  judgment,  both 
in  political  and  in  literary  matters. 

As  I  have  also  said,  he  had,  like  all  the  Habs- 
burgs,  learned  a  trade,  and  his  choice  had  been  that 
of  practical  printer.  Probably  the  greatest  passion 
among  his  studies  was  the  somewhat  unusual 
science  of  ornithology,  and  his  advice  on  details 
connected  with  this  branch  of  knowledge  had  been 
asked  on  more  than  one  occasion  by  directors  of 
museums,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Add  to 
this  the  fact  that  he  contributed  essays  to  several 
publications  on  subjects  in  which  he  was  interested  .^ 

1  One  of  the  last  letters  he  wrote  in  life  was  a  note  to  Weilen, 
the  journalist,  promising  to  give  him  an  essay  as  well  as  to  finish 
his  Slofy  of  Godollo.  This  was  on  the  day  before  his  death. — 
Diarist. 


166  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

In  my  view,  he  was  among  the  best  horsemen  I 
have  met,  as  his  Imperial  mother  was  certainly 
the  first  horsewoman  in  the  world.  AH  these 
details  I  put  before  the  reader  in  order  to  indicate 
that  a  man  of  such  a  type  could  not  have  been 
the  hardened  devotee  of  the  bottle  that  rumour 
so  often  accused  him  of  being .  With  his  youth,  his 
position,  his  temptations  all  considered,  it  would 
have  been  strange,  indeed,  had  he  lived  the  life 
of  an  ascetic — a  life  from  which  he  was  as  far 
removed  as  he  was  incapable  of  its  extreme. 

I  enjoyed,  many  a  time,  the  privilege  of  con- 
versation with  my  master  on  subjects  which,  I 
presume,  interest  most  men  of  extended  and 
intelligent  reading.  Psychology,  in  particular, 
was  a  science  in  which  he  was  interested  more 
than  others,  and  the  subjects  of  suicide,  drink, 
dreams  and  education  were  frequently  discussed 
in  his  hours  of  leisure.  As  I  have  just  touched 
upon  the  charge  that  he  was  a  confirmed  devotee 
of  the  bottle,  I  will  here  give  a  short  digest  of 
an  article  that  he  once  wrote  for  Weilen  on 
the  subject  of  alcoholic  indulgence,  which,  in  my 
opinion,  states  the  case  against  the  abuse  of 
alcohol  with  considerable  ability  ;  and  which,  at 
all  events,  attracted  attention  at  the  time,  since 
some  of  his  remarks  forestall  the  so-called 
electron  theory  which  later  came  into  currency  : 

"  As  it  has  been  observed,  man  may  well  be 
described  as  machine,  plus  a  mind.  Physically 
he  may  be  said  to  be  an  electrical  organism  con- 


MAN— THE  MACHINE  167 

structed  in  every  essential  particular  of  electrons, 
the  activity  of  which  gives  him  his  energy  and 
constitutes  his  forcefulness  in  the  struggle  for  life. 
In  other  words,  the  greater  his  personal  or  physical 
*  dynamo,'  and  the  sounder  his  electrical  com- 
position, the  greater  his  supply  of  energy,  and  the 
better  is  he  equipped  in  order  to  fight  the  battle 
of  life  and  triumph  over  those  who  do  not  possess 
as  strong  an  electrical  supply  as  his.  This  vibra- 
tory force  it  is,  consequently,  that  makes  him  a 
forceful  and  energetic  character,  if  the  supply  is 
large  and  properly  controlled,  or  a  weakling, 
should  the  supply  be  small  or  intermittent  and 
not  wisely  controlled  according  to  what  physical 
scientists  call  the  principle  of  conservation  of 
energy.  This  principle  is  a  known  law  of  Nature, 
and  in  man  it  is  expressed  by  the  will-power,  or 
the  governing  check,  bestowed  by  Nature,  which 
exercises  its  function  by  virtue  of  the  reasoning 
force,  the  main  quality  of  which  is  a  sense  of 
economy.  Your  value  in  the  scheme  of  the  world 
and  your  likelihood  of  attaining  success,  there- 
fore, depend  on  your  supply  of  energy  and  on  your 
sense  of  economising  it,  directing  it  properly  and 
allowing  as  little  as  possible  of  it  to  go  to  waste. 
*  *  *  *  * 

"  In  his  normal  physical  working  condition, 
man  may  be  described  as  a  kind  of  natural 
machine  the  workableness  of  which  depends  on 
the  wholesomeness  of  food  and  drink  taken  in 
proportion  to  the  need  for  sustained  effort  or 
application .    What  food  he  eats  goes  to  strengthen 


168   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

the  tissue-supply  and  enrich  the  blood.  The 
firmer  the  tissues  and  the  richer  the  blood,  the 
greater  the  physical  and  mental  capacity  for  the 
production  of  effort  and  sustained  concentration 
of  thought.  Before  the  invention  of  alcoholic 
liquors,  man,  when  he  found  himself  in  that  par- 
ticular condition  of  body  and  mind  which  we 
term  '  run  down  ' — like  a  clock,  for  instance — 
recuperated  by  resting  from  his  labours  until  he 
was  wound  up  anew  and  ready  to  continue  the 
struggle.  He  rested  till  waste  tissue  was  removed 
from  his  frame  and  a  new  supply  formed,  and  if 
he  was  a  man  who  worked  with  his  brain,  till  the 
brain  cells  were  recreated  and  a  fresh  supply  of 
new-made  blood  was  sent  travelling  through  the 
thousands  of  little  veins  that  irrigated  (so  to 
speak)  and  refertilised  the  area  of  the  brain  or 
mental  apparatus — the  cerebrum,  the  anatomists 
call  it. 

*  *  *  *  * 

"  With  the  invention  of  alcohol,  there  came, 
however,  a  new  condition  of  affairs.  Men  found 
that  when  the  body  and  the  mind  were  run  down 
or  fatigued,  it  was  possible  artificially  to  recreate 
their  energies,  and  that,  too,  almost  at  once,  by 
drinking  spirituous  liquors.  A  new  impulse  was 
created  by  the  draught  of  alcohol — ^which  impulse 
lasted  for  a  certain  time,  during  which  the  energies 
seemed  to  be  accelerated,  and  even  thought 
seemed  to  be  promoted.  The  new-found  energies 
did  not  endure  long,  however.  When  they  were 
expended,  an  unusual  lassitude  was  experienced, 


THE  ABUSE  OF  ALCOHOL  169 

both  in  the  body  and  the  mind,  and  in  order  to 
stimulate  them  anew,  recourse  was  again  made  to 
the  bottle.  Each  period  of  exhilaration  was 
succeeded  by  a  period  of  lassitude  proportionate 
to  the  artificial  recreation  of  energy,  and  finally 
intoxication  (i.e.  poisoning)  of  both  the  physical 
and  mental  apparatus  forbade  further  call  on  the 
supply  of  electrical  energy.  Li  other  words,  our 
drinking  man  found  himself  in  the  position  of 
having,  metaphorically  speaking,  overdrawn  his 
physical  and  mental  account  to  a  point  at  which 
the  bank  refused  to  lend  any  more.  This  is 
the  simple  result  of  wantonly  abusing  alcohol,  for 
its  proper  use  is  sanctioned,  in  special  cases,  by 
the  highest  medical  experts.  Not  only  has  the 
drunkard  overdrawn  on  the  electrical  supply  of 
his  physical  make-up,  but  he  has  also  overdrawn 
on  his  mental  '  balance,'  and  in  the  end  finds 
himself  a  physical  and  mental  bankrupt. 
***** 
"  The  old  view  that  the  brain  contained  the 
total  supply  of  will-power  has  more  recently  been 
superseded  by  the  view  that  this  will-power — a 
species  of  thought-directed  energy,  as  we  have 
seen — is  diffused  over  the  whole  system,  from 
which  it  radiates  in  proportion  to  its  elemental 
force.  The  consequence,  therefore,  of  over- 
indulgence in  alcohol  must  be  as  bad  for  the 
physical  frame,  in  its  effects,  as  it  is  for  the 
cerebral  or  brain  equipment,  physicists,  indeed, 
making  no  specific  distinction  when  talking  of  the 
somatic  or  bodily  frame  as  a  whole,  apart  from  the 


170  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

soul  so-called.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that 
its  first  and  most  serious  attack  is  upon  the  most 
refined  portions  of  the  human  organism — a  man's 
brain  gives  way  to  the  effects  of  alcohol  long  before 
his  limbs,  other  things  being  normal .  His  memory 
is  the  first  to  show  the  effects,  this  being  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  power  of  co-ordinating,  or  associating 
ideas  in  a  logical  order,  is  destroyed  by  the  succes- 
sive assaults  of  the  spirituous  poison  on  the  most 
refined  proportion  of  the  sensorium  in  which  are 
stored  the  impressions  received  through  the  eye. 
Notice  the  drunkard's  eye  :  it  is  the  most  tell- 
tale of  all  his  organs  ;  test  his  memory,  and  you 
will  see  to  what  extent  it  is  in  the  condition  of 
being  what  is  commonly  called  "  fuddled."  With- 
out memory  and  with  a  defective  or  atrophied 
power  for  receiving  impressions,  his  two  most 
important  functions  are  for  most  purposes  useless, 
namely,  his  reason  and — particularly  in  the  case 
of  ambitious  men — his  imagination,  or  power  of 
origination. 

***** 
"  Whatever  mythical  stories  may  be  told  of 
the  '  inspirations '  great  geniuses  may  have 
derived  from  the  use  of  alcohol,  it  is  certain  that 
no  great  genius,  whether  of  ancient  or  modem 
times,  was  an  abuser  of  alcohol,  and  equally 
certain  that  no  drunkard — in  the  sense  of  a 
habitual  abuser  of  alcohol — has  ever  produced 
imperishable  or  even  long-lasting  work.  Goethe, 
Balzac,  Voltaire,  Byron,  Shakespeare,  were  users, 
in  a  degree,  of  alcohol,  but  by  no  manner  of  means 


VALUE  OF  SELF-CRITICISM  171 

were  they  addicted  to  its  undue  use.  Napoleon 
and  Caesar  were  moderate  users  of  vinous  drinks, 
and  the  great  scientists  and  thinkers  have 
also  used  them  in  moderation.  The  bestowal 
by  Nature  of  those  great  faculties  which  go  to 
make  up  what  we  call  genius,  obviously,  if  they 
are  meant  to  exert  real  dynamic  energies,  must 
also  include  a  strong  power  of  reasoning  and  self- 
criticism,  which  latter,  in  this  case,  amounts  to 
the  principle  of  conservation  of  energy.  The 
most  striking  faculty  of  genius,  moreover,  or 
indeed  of  great  ability,  is  that  of  working  by  the 
simplest  and  directest  methods,  or  those  in  which 
the  greatest  results  are  produced  by  the  least 
waste  of  positive  energy. 

"  The  first  best  remedy  against  the  abuse  of 
alcohol  is,  therefore,  the  cultivation  of  the  reason- 
ing power  and  the  exercise  of  that  faculty  of 
self-criticism  which  teaches  one  the  folly  of 
expending  natural  gifts,  or  forces,  in  reckless 
and  undirected  fashion  so  as  to  bring  about  the 
inevitable  bankruptcy  of  body  and  mind  by 
over-drawing  on  the  natural  supply." 

Our  sojourn  at  San  Remo  was  not  a  lengthy 
one,  as  I  well  remember  by  the  fact  that,  during 
our  stay  there,  only  two  couriers  arrived  bearing 
mails  from  Vienna,  among  the  many  letters  for 
our  party  being  one  from  my  old  schoolfellow 
Koinoff,  containing  a  request  for  a  more  consider- 
able loan  than  I  had  yet  made  him,  the  cards 
and  the  race-horses  having  once  more  declared 


172   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

in  his  disfavour.  The  letter  contained  other 
matter  which  I  shall  deal  with  in  its  proper  place, 
and  which  proved  more  interesting  in  the  sequel 
than  I  could  possibly  have  foreseen  at  the  time 
of  its  receipt.  Another  letter,  which  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  Archduke,  came  under  my  obser- 
vation before  that  of  my  patron,  since  it  was 
part  of  my  duty  to  open,  and,  if  very  lengthy,  to 
precis,  all  communications  which  did  not  bear 
the  Archducal  token  of  privacy,  a  token  that 
made  them  sacrosanct  to  all  but  himself.  Like 
other  persons  of  note  who  employ  many  secre- 
taries, His  Highness  had  an  especial  cachet  of 
paper  which  was  supplied,  under  instructions  to 
his  chamberlain,  to  particular  friends  whom  he 
permitted  to  correspond  with  himself,  and  all 
letters  of  this  cachet  passed  immediately  to  his 
own  notice. 

The  especial  communication  which  so  vividly 
recalls  itself  to  my  mind  was  one  of  several 
which  had  come  directly  under  my  atten- 
tion since  I  had  served  my  master  as  personal 
secretary  ;  and  if  I  mention  it  now,  it  is  by  no 
means  to  offend  any  person's  susceptibilities,  but 
merely  to  show  how  interesting  a  prince's  corre- 
spondence can  be  and  how  potent  an  appeal  his 
royal  condition  can  make  to  the  patriotic  instincts 
of  the  humblest  of  his  subjects,  actual  or  potential. 
Those  who  are  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
life  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  Britons,  Lord  Byron, 
will  remember  well  how  the  poet  was  once  the 
recipient  of  a  letter  from  a  young  and  untried 


AN  AMBITIOUS  NYMPH  173 

maiden  who  solicited  from  his  lordship  the  honour 
of  conferring  upon  her  the  most  intimate  kind  of 
personal  patronage  which  man  can  at  any  time 
confer  upon  woman.  The  fair  aspirant,  it  will 
be  remembered,  went  fully  into  details  ;  explain- 
ing how  she  had  reached  a  certain  age  and  as  yet 
was  entitled  to  wear  the  white  robe,  the  fillets 
and  the  lily-like  wand  which  were  peculiar  to  the 
handmaidens  of  the  Temple  of  Vesta  ;  how  she 
had  up  till  then  seen  many  a  variety  of  male,  but 
how  she  could  conceive  of  the  poet-peer  alone  as 
the  sole  possible  patron  who  came  up  to  the 
specifications  of  her  heart's  ideal ;  how,  Dudu- 
like,  she  used  to  dream  of  apples  and  other  fruits 
of  paradise — and  so  on. 

Byron,  we  are  told,  was  more  interested  in  this 
letter  than  any  he  had  ever  received  from  the 
large  number  of  inamorate  who,  at  one  time  or 
other  in  his  life,  had  become  dear  to  him,  and, 
accordingly,  proved  kind  to  his  fair  correspondent. 
The  particular  letter  which  I  recall  w^as  written  by 
a  maiden  of  the  upper  class,  who  (she  said)  was 
about  to  be  forced  into  a  marriage  for  which  she 
had  no  inclination,  and  was  in  other  respects 
conceived  in  terms  similar  to  those  which  made 
up  the  epistle  indited  to  the  English  poet.  The 
Archduke,  in  those  days  at  least,  was  in  no 
humour,  however,  to  indulge  his  droit  de  jambe, 
as  the  French  call  it. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Return  to  Laxenburg  Castle — Kaiser  Franz's  Unexpected  Visit  to 
his  Son — The  Rudolph- Vetsera  Liaison — Rudolph's  Loyalty 
to  his  Sire — Promise  to  give  up  Marie  Vetsera — Rudolph  and 
his  Mother — Alleged  Appeal  by  the  Archduke  for  Divorce — 
Prussia's  Conquest-^Ianias — My  Turf  Successes — Koinofi 
visits  me  again— His  Gaming  Transactions — Count  Potocki's 
Visit — Koinoff's  Story  of  a  Mysterious  Letter — Bismarck 
will  do  no  Murder — Ich  bin  kein  sicarius — Who  is  implicated 
in  Berlin's  Murderous  Intrigues — Question  of  the  Vatican — 
The  Secular  Arm — A  New  Man  and  New  Measures  in  Berlin 
— The  most  Pathetic  Kind  of  Mediocrity 

On  our  return  from  Rome,  whither  from  San 
Remo  the  Archduke  had  proceeded  incognito, 
accompanied  by  Count  Potocki  and  myself,  we 
went  into  residence  at  Laxenburg.  On  the  morn- 
ing following  our  arrival  at  the  Castle,  shortly 
after  the  Archduke  had  ordered  his  carriage,  with 
the  intention  of  paying  his  respects  to  Kaiser 
Franz  at  the  Hofburg,  the  very  imexpected 
announcement  was  made  of  the  arrival  of  the 
Emperor  and  his  Consort,  somewhat  to  the  irrita- 
tion, I  observed,  of  His  Highness,  with  whom  I 
was  then  engaged  in  dealing  with  a  large  accumula- 
tion of  correspondence.  The  Archducal  entourage 
had  been,  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  liaison 
with  Marie  Vetsera,  under  no  illusions  whatever 
as  to  what  its  result  must  be — namely,  inter- 
vention on  the  part  of  the  Emperor,  who,  in  this 
matter,  was  moved  rather  by  the  temptations  it 

174 


AN  ARCH-TEUTONOPHILE  175 

offered  to  the  political  enemies  of  his  throne 
rather  than  by  any  moral  considerations  involved 
in  the  illicit  connection,  or,  I  must  say  it,  even 
by  any  regard  for  the  feelings  of  such  as  might 
be  hurt  by  its  continuance.  At  this  stage,  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  expressing  my  conviction 
that  Kaiser  Franz  had  already  divined  the 
sinister  nature  of  the  intrigues  which  were  then 
brewing  in  Berlin  in  the  camarilla  of  militarists 
who  had  become  obsessed  by  Mommsen's  ex- 
travagant historical  implications,  which  went  the 
length  of  prophesying  that  the  time  was  close  at 
hand  when  the  thrice-victorious  Prussia  of  1864, 
1866  and  1870  was  at  last  to  enter  into  that 
inheritance  of  ancient  Roman  dominion  upon 
which  neither  Charlemagne  nor  the  Habsburgs 
had  been  successful  in  permanently  imposing 
their  dynastic  headship. 

And  if  you  think  it  extravagant  that  intellectual 
Berlin  could  seriously  accept  such  prophecies,  just 
consider  the  case  of  Houston  Stewart  Chamberlain, 
of  our  own  day,  whose  teaching — namely,  that 
Jesus  Christ  was,  through  the  Amorites,  of 
aboriginal  Teutonic  descent — receives  the  applause 
of  academic  Germany  from  the  Emperor  William 
himself  down  to  the  meanest  Privat-Dozent,  or 
private  tutor,  in  the  Fatherland .  And  Chamberlain 
bases  his  conclusion  to  some  extent  on  the  possible 
correctness  of  the  very  vague  hypothesis  that  the 
Amorites  were  really  "  Men  of  the  North,"  but 
mainly  on  his  own  identification  of  Christ's 
"  method  of  thought  "  with  that  of  a   modern 


176  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

German  professor !  So  that  in  one  generation 
the  insensibility  of  Mommsen  to  the  absurdity  of 
false  analogies  has  graduated  into  the  lunacies 
of  the  Arch-Teutonophile,  and  each  teacher  in  his 
turn  provides,  in  a  degree,  the  measure  of  modern 
Germany's  intellectual  worth. 

In  the  Archduke's  immediate  entourage  we 
had  often  discussed  the  probability  of  the 
Emperor's  intervention,  and  since  an  unusual 
series  of  communications  had  passed  directly 
between  Kaiser  Franz  and  his  Heir-Apparent 
during  our  absence  in  San  Remo  and  Rome, 
neither  Potocki  nor  myself  was  under  any  illusion 
that  the  bolt  was  about  to  fall.  We  were  not 
long  in  suspense,  however,  for  on  the  evening  of 
his  Lnperial  parents'  visit  to  Laxenburg,  the 
Archduke  informed  us  that  it  was  his  intention 
to  pay  a  lengthy  scientific  visit  to  South  America 
— in  the  company  of  his  Consort.  He  was,  I 
remember,  in  gay  good  humour  on  that  occasion ; 
intended,  he  said,  to  take  us  all  with  him  as  well 
as  a  host  of  scientific  experts  in  imitation,  as 
he  told  us,  of  Napoleon  when  that  commander 
invaded  Egypt,  and  that  in  all  probability  we 
might  prepare  for  the  adventure  about  the  end 
of  December  of  that  year — which,  I  may  say,  was 
about  one  month  before  my  master  passed  away 
at  Meyerling.  The  Emperor  Francis  had  not 
miscalculated  on  the  loyalty  of  his  Heir,  whose 
devotion  to  his  sire  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
traits  I  have  witnessed  in  any  man.  That  the 
Empress    Elizabeth    counted    for    much    in    the 


THE  BARBARIC  <NEAR-EAST         177 

Archduke's  decision  to  break  with  Mademoiselle, 
I  refuse  to  believe,  for  although  he  was  devoted 
to  his  Imperial  mother,  his  regard  for  the  Empress 
was  slightly  coloured  with  that  fatherly  indulgence 
which  Kaiser  Franz  displayed  towards  his  Consort. 
Such  indulgence  was  entirely  German,  or,  if 
you  will,  somewhat  Sultanic,  and  woman  as  an 
intellectual  entity  counted  for  very,  very  little 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Habsburg  Princes.  I  have  said 
elsewhere  that  as  the  traveller — the  intelligent 
traveller — goes  east  of  Berlin,  he  becomes  con- 
scious of  something  barbaric  in  the  atmosphere 
of  man  and  town.  You  sense  this  atmosphere, 
for  all  its  ostentatious  and  somewhat  vulgar 
modernity,  in  Berlin,  though  you  are  hardly 
conscious  of  it  in  Magdeburg  or  Cologne  ;  and  as 
you  go  south  towards  the  Danube,  you  realise 
that  you  are  among  the  racial  descendants  of  those 
philosophers  who  were  wont  to  discuss  whether, 
or  not,  woman  possessed  a  soul.  In  these  regions, 
and  as  you  travel  farther  south,  she  is  a  toy,  and 
has  only  an  ornamental  or  domestic  place  in  the 
scheme  of  important  things.  Peter  the  Great, 
you  may  remember,  used,  when  he  was  sober 
enough  to  hold  a  Drawing  Room,  to  make  the 
fairest  debutantes  at  the  foot  of  his  throne  turn 
round,  filly-wise,  and  show  their  ankles.  And 
likewise,  I  often  noted,  it  was  much  as  cattle 
experts  that  the  august  hemicycle  of  Imperial 
Princes  was  wont  to  consider  the  maids  of  more 
human  clay  as  they  peacocked  past  the  chiefs  of 
Habsburg  in  the  Palaces  of  Vienna. 

M 


178   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

Notwithstanding  the  loyalty  of  the  heads  of 
the  Vetsera  family,  which  was  entirely  in  favour 
of  the  separation  of  its  daughter  and  the  Arch- 
duke, a  time  of  trouble  and  unhappiness  set  in  for 
my  master,  who  Avas  too  accomplished  a  man  of 
the  world  not  to  realise  ''^  fur  ens  quid  femina 
possit,^^  as  the  Roman  puts  it — how  far  a  wonian 
can  go  in  her  anger.  There  was,  moreover,  a 
pride  of  kingly  caste  in  him — peculiar  to  princes 
of  royal  and  imperial  houses,  indeed — which  must 
have  forbidden  him  an  alliance  with  a  family  of 
less  than  royal  blood,  if,  as  it  was  said,  he  had 
really,  during  our  visit  to  Rome,  sought  the  inter- 
vention of  Leo  XIII.  and  Cardinal  Rampolla  in 
order  to  procure  a  divorce  from  his  Consort  on 
the  ground  of  cousiaship.  Whether  or  not  this 
appeal  had  really  been  made  by  the  Archduke,  I 
am  wholly  unable  to  say  ;  nor  have  I  ever  heard 
that  any  one  of  his  intimates  had  been  made  a 
confidant  in  respect  of  this  widely  iiimoured 
report.  To  my  mind,  his  pride  of  caste  gave  the 
lie  to  the  possibility  of  such  an  appeal  having  been 
made,  and  in  any  case,  my  master  was  too  well 
versed  in  the  Canonical  custom  of  the  Catholic 
Church  not  to  know  that  he  was  totally  without 
grounds  for  a  divorce. 

As  for  Mademoiselle  Vetsera,  if  the  Archduke 
could  say  that  princes  never  possessed  the  satisfac- 
tion of  confidence  as  to  the  regard  entertained  for 
them  by  their  dearest  mistresses,  it  shall  certainly 
not  be  left  for  myself  to  say  that  Marie  Vetsera 
was  moved  more  by  vanity  and  ambition  than  by 


WHAT  MIGHT  HAVE  BEEN  179 

love  in  her  attachment  to  her  Imperial  protector. 
Positive  I  am,  however,  that  the  divorce  of  these 
two  illicit  lovers  was  not  accomplished  at  once  ; 
that  the  rupture  seemed  to  give  no  less  pain  to 
the  Archduke  than  it  gave  to  his  mistress  ;  that 
they  continued  to  meet  at  various  trysting-places 
both  in  and  out  of  Vienna  ;  and  that  the  Emperor 
found  himself  obhged,  more  than  once,  to  intervene 
and  appeal  anew  to  the  loyalty  of  his  Heir. 
Urgency,  indeed,  entered  so  largely  into  the 
calculations  of  Kaiser  Franz  that  the  projected 
expedition  to  South  America,  which  had  been 
planned  for  the  opening  of  1889,  was  actually 
preferred  to  a  date  in  the  summer  of  1888,  when, 
for  all  the  scientific  purposes  of  the  adventure, 
little  could  have  resulted.  Would  that  the  expedi- 
tion had,  in  any  case,  taken  place  !  The  story 
of  Europe  within  the  past  generation  might  have 
had  to  be  told  in  far  different  terms  ;  and  here  I 
am  reminded  of  the  famous  mot  of  the  Emperor 
Napoleon — namely,  that  Destiny  often  moves  on 
the  most  trivial  of  contingencies. 

During  the  year  1888,  I  may  say.  Fortune  had 
very  much  favoured  myself  in  regard  to  any  Turf 
speculations  into  which  I  had  entered,  and  I  was 
one  of  the  lucky  number  which  was  happy  enough 
to  start  with  the  famous  run  of  luck  which  gave 
the  Duke  of  Portland  two  successive  Derby 
winners  in  Ayrshire  and  Donovan.  My  master's 
luck  had,  on  the  contrary,  been  continuously  bad 
since  the  autumn  of  1887,  and  this  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  a  fund  of  excellent  information. 


180  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

both  from  England  and  France,  had  won  for  many 
of  his  friends,  men  as  well  as  women,  respect- 
able fortunes.  But  as  I  have  related,  he  was  a 
man  whose  obstinacy  went  into  every  phase  of 
his  activities.  Among  others  who  had  not  been 
favoured  by  the  fickle  goddess  was  the  ex- 
Feldkirchian  Koinoff,  who  was  not  long  in  asking 
for  an  appointment  with  myself,  when  he  knew  of 
the  Archduke's  return.  As  before,  we  met  at  my 
flat  near  the  Hofgarten,  and  my  old  schoolfellow 
was  full  of  information  which  had  been  conveyed, 
during  our  several  periods  of  absence,  either  to 
Bombelles  or  Hoyos.  I  was  glad,  however,  to 
hear  what  he  had  to  say  at  first  hand. 

"  Your  letter,"  he  said,  referring  to  my  reply 
to  his  communication  at  San  Remo,  "  was 
doubly  welcome.  I  spent  a  fortnight  of  my 
furlough  in  Berlin.  That  Scotchman  Duglas  got 
on  my  track,  and,  would  you  believe  it,  won  his 
last  year's  losings  back,  with  ten  per  cent,  interest. 
Nor  had  I  an  opportunity  of  getting  my  revanche^ 
as  he  was  suddenly  called  to  Friederichsruhe  to 
see  the  chief.  The  Chancellor  has  snatched  a  few 
days  there  despite  these  critical  days." 

"  But  why  doubly  welcome,  as  you  say  of  my 
letter  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Well,  on  my  return  to  Vienna  I  was  badly 
cleaned  out  at  the  Baroness's.  Not  a  maravedi's 
worth  of  money  left,"  he  answered. 

"  And  who  did  the  cleaning  out  ?  They  appear 
to  have  made  a  dead-set  against  j^ou  all  round," 
I  observed. 


A  VISIT  FROM  POTOCKI  181 

"  Waldersec  it  was  who  broke  my  bank — young 
Waklersce,  who  succeeded  Duglas,  you  remember ; 
one  of  the  cleverest  hands  in  Berlin.  And  the 
result  is,"  he  added,  somewhat  abjectly,  "  the 
secretary  at  the  Nunciature  owns  me  bodily,  if 
my  soul  is  still  my  own." 

"  Why  not  explain  the  case  to  Hoyos  or 
Bombelles,"  I  suggested ;  "  and,  above  all,  why 
remain  at  the  Nunciature  ?  Que  diable  allez-vous 
faire  dans  cette  galere  ?  Neither  the  Nunciature 
nor  Berlin  has  any  more  secrets  from  us.  Now 
you  know." 

Koinoff  rose  with  affected  ease  from  his  chair. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  secrets  ?  "  he  asked, 
with  a  curious  fixity.  "  Secrets  about  whom — 
about  what  ?  " 

"  All  the  judges  are  not  in  Berlin,"  was  my 
reply.  "  There  are  also  judges  in  Vienna.  Do 
you  think  we  are  under  any  illusion  as  to 
the  character  of  the  men  who  surround  Prince 
William  in  Berlin  ;  or  under  any  misconceptions 
as  to  himself  ?  Are  you  under  axiy  illusions  as  to 
them  yourself  ?  " 

At  this  moment  Bratfisch  announced  Count 
Potocki.  In  expectation  of  Koinoff's  visit,  I 
had  asked  him  to  call.  There  was  no  need  of 
introductions,  and  Potocki  knew  as  well  as  I  did 
that  the  Feldkirchian  was  in  the  pay  of  Hoyos 
— in  those  days  of  Bismarckian  espionage  and 
intrigue  an  excusable  trade  on  the  Continent. 

"You  ask  me  if  I  am  under  any  illusions  as 
to   the   men    around   Prince   William.     Do    you 


182  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

include  the  Bismarcks  among  them  ?  "  Koinoff 
proceeded. 

**  I  know  what  you  are  going  to  suggest," 
I  replied  ;  ''  but  there  is  hardly  any  necessity. 
Everybody  who  knows  anything  is  well  aware 
that  the  Bismarck  regime  is  doomed — ^as  doomed 
as  the  Emperor  Frederick.*  Watch  the  French 
and  our  own  stock  markets;  they  tell  the  tale, 
I  think." 

"And,"  interjected  Potocki,  "there  is  little 
doubt  that  the  new  Crown  Prince  has  shown  his 
hand  so  plainly  that  Bismarck  is  under  no  illusions 
as  to  William's  intention  to  reign  alone  when  his 
turn  comes." 

"  Still  they  were  On  sufficiently  good  terms  up 
to  a  year  ago.  Why  these  sudden  hates,  I 
wonder  ?  "  was  my  remark. 

"  The  truth  is,"  replied  Potocki,  "  William  is 
already  in  the  saddle,  and  he  knows  it ;  so  does 
the  Chancellor.  They  have  fallen  out  on  the 
Colonial  question,  which  Bismarck  has  sworn  to 
oppose  with  all  his  might.  He  wants  no  colonies, 
but  Wilhelm  does  ;  the  Army  is  sufficient  for 
Bismarck,  but  William  wants  a  navy  to  play  with. 
The  Chancellor  thinks  that  Prussia  ought  to  be 
satisfied  with  carrying  out  the  policies  of  Frederick 
the  Great  and  annex  Europe  on  the  instalment 
plan  ;  but  William— William  is  less  modest ; 
he  wants " 

"  — the  Earth,"  as  an  American  would  say  ; 

1  The  Emperor  Frederick  had  indeed  passed  less  than  six  weeks 
after  this  conversation. — Diarist. 


INSIDE  INFORMATION  183 

Koinoff  interrupted.  "  You  are  right,  Count  ! 
And  yet,"  added  the  Feldkirchian  thoughtfully, 
"  you  are  only  partly  right.  Bismarck  quarrelled 
with  William  on  an  entirely  different  score.  Shall 
I  tell  you  ?  " 

"  Speak  by  all  means,"  we  answered  in  a 
single  voice. 

"Well,  gentlemen,"  replied  the  ex-scholastic, 
"  I  am  afraid  of  walls — can  they  hear  ?  " 

"  Aures  habent,  sed  non  audient,  as  the  Psalmist 
says,"  I  answered  rather  feebly  ;  "  go  on  with 
your  mystery,  Koinoff." 

"  When  I  was  in  Berlin  doing  precis  work  for 
Dr  Petri,"  the  Feldkirchian  resumed,  "  I  was, 
as  you  will  remember,  housed — for  office-room, 
at  least — with  the  Doctor's  department — that  is 
to  say,  an  annexe  of  the  Chancellor's.  As  the 
only  one  who  knew  Italian  perfectly,  and  could 
translate  Avithout  hesitation,  into  Italian,  letters 
dictated  to  me,  in  German,  by  Petri,  I  came  into 
more  frequent  intimacy  with  the  Doctor  than  the 
others,  most  of  whom  were  Lutherans.  The  bulk 
of  the  correspondence  which  passed  between 
Berlin  and  the  Vatican  dealt,  as  you  may  suppose, 
with  the  settlement  following  on  the  close  of  the 
Kulturkampf — work  with  which  Petri,  as  an 
ex-priest,  was  highly  competent  to  deal  as  to 
canonical,  theological  or  disciplinary  details.  As 
it  frequently  happened  that  correspondence  was 
heavy,  my  particular  work  obliged  me  on  occasion 
to  keep  late  hours  in  my  office,  which  adjoined 
that  of  Dr  Petri.     Here  one  evening,  as  he  was 


184  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

hurriedly  departing,  the  Doctor  handed  me  a 
sheaf  of  notes  written  by  himself  which  I  was  to 
amplify  and  translate  into  Italian — notes  on 
matters  of  mere  technical  interest  which  contained 
no  mystery.  Lurking  among  the  leaves,  however, 
lay  a  letter  which  was  certainly  not  intended  for 
anyone's  perusal  but  that  of  my  immediate  chief. 
It  was  in  Italian  and  written  in  a  peculiarly  small 
hand,  unsigned,  undated  and  without  any  evi- 
dence of  the  place  of  its  origin.  The  beauty  of 
the  handwriting  at  first  attracted  my  attention, 
then  the  contents,  which  were  full  of  mystery. 
The  letter,  as  I  could  read  between  the  lines, 
referred  to  a  previous  communication  in  which 
nothing  was  said,  but  much  conveyed. 

*'  It  concerned  the  existence  of  a  man  of  the  first 
importance  who,  the  context  allowed  an  intelligent 
person  to  assume,  constituted  an  obstruction  in  the 
path  of  those  whom  the  writer  represented,  as  well 
as  a  thorn  in  the  path  of  other  important  persons 
who,  of  course,  remained  unnamed.  There  was 
sufficient  in  the  contents  of  this  mysterious  note 
to  justify  me  in  thinking  that  I  was  in  presence 
of  a  matter  of  moment.  It  spoke  of  certain 
friends  who  were  prepared  to  act;  it  mentioned 
the  Castle  of  Laxenburg  ;  there  was  question  of 
the  necessary  female  influence  ;  it  deplored  the 
lack  of  energy  or  courage  on  the  part  of  an  agent 
of  great  importance.  The  letter  was  of  sufficient 
importance,  I  realised,  that  to  be  known  to  know 
of  its  contents  would  have  been,  I  calculated, 
adverse    to    my    health — to    say    the    least.     I 


BISMARCK  AND  ANOTHER  185 

decided  to  replace  it  in  the  Doctor's  office,  and 
moved  to  the  adjoining  room — in  darkness,  since 
its  occupant  had  gone.  As  I  entered  with  that 
intention,  a  high-pitched  voice  struck  upon  my 
ear,  angry  in  tone,  or  at  least  querulous.  It  came 
from  an  open  window  which  ran  at  right  angles 
to  the  Doctor's  office.  Its  blinds  were  drawn, 
but  the  windows  of  both  pieces  were  open.  The 
high-pitched  voice  was  that  of  Bismarck  : 

"  '  No,'  the  Chancellor  was  saying  ;  '  I  will 
slay  in  fair  fight  when  the  lists  are  open  and  all 
may  be  called  fair.  But  I  will  do  no  killing  by 
stealth,  nor  will  I  be  the  agent  of  those  who  murder 
in  the  dark.  Ich  bin  kein  sicarius.^  ^  The  words 
came  firmly  and  loudly. 

"  The  second  voice  was  not  heard  for  some 
time,  and  when  it  spoke,  I  failed  to  distinguish 
the  words,  but  was  only  conscious  of  low  guttural 
tones  suggesting  a  feeling  of  contempt.  The 
shadow^  of  the  tall  Chancellor  was  then  thrown 
on  the  blind,  as  if  rising  from  a  chair,  and  I 
deposited  the  mysterious  letter  on  the  floor 
under  the  Doctor's  secretaire.  Returning  swiftly 
to  my  office,  I  picked  up  the  completed  budget 
ready  for  my  chief's  perusal,  transferred  it  to  an 
open  dispatch-case  of  which  he  alone  held  the 
key,  pressed  the  clasp-lock  and  was  soon  outside 
the  building." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Potocki,  "  you  waited  to  see 
who  the  Chancellor's  visitor  was  ?  " 

1  The  Latin  word  sica  means  dagger.     A  profebsional  murderer 
was  known  to  the  Romans  as  a  stearins. — Editor. 


186  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

"  No,  Count ;  I  did  not  wait,"  Koinoff  replied 
simply.  "  Besides,"  he  added,  as  of  an  after- 
thought, "  I  knew  who  was  accustomed  to  visit 
him  about  that  hour." 

"  But,  Koinoff,"  said  I,  somewhat  puzzled, 
"  to  what  does  all  this  lead  ?  Where  is  the 
implication  ?  " 

And  the  Feldkirchian  replied  :  "  When  I  came 
to  the  Nunciature,  I  discovered  the  wonderful 
handwriting  again — not  once  but  several  times. 
It  came  from  Rome." 

"  Oh,  surely  not,  Mr  Koinoff.  Think  again," 
exclaimed  Potocki  rather  doubtfully.  "  You  do 
not,  I  presume,  insinuate  that  the  Vatican  would 
descend  to  murder  ?  " 

"  Count,"  replied  Koinoff,  with  a  touch  of 
sententiousness,  "  there  are  wheels  within  wheels. 
Do  you  know  Galimberti  ?  Aspice  formicam — 
consider  that  ant  of  industry  !  Do  you  think 
Galimberti   is   overburdened   with   scruples  ?  " 

"That,"  retorted  Potocki,  also  with  some  sen- 
tentiousness, "is  a  question  with  an  assumption." 

"Meaning  to  say ?"  asked  my  old  school- 
fellow, smiling. 

"I  mean  to  say,"  the  Count  answered,  "that 
you  evidently  assume  me  to  think  that  because 
a  man  is  a  Nuncio  he  is  necessarily  above  suspicion. 
Believe  me,  I  do  not." 

"  Well,"  said  the  Feldkirchian,  with  decision, 
"  you  have  read  history.  So  have  I.  And  I  fear 
I  can  only  reply  again  that  there  are  wheels 
within    wheels.      Besides,    Count    Potocki,"    he 


PRINCE    BISMARCK    IN    RETIREMENT.  1890. 
After  the  Painting  by  Lenbach. 


THE  SECULAR  ARM  187 

added,  after  a  pause,  "  I  have  been  at  the 
Nunciature  now  for  several  months — nearly  a 
year.  I  have  perhaps  observed  where  I  was  not 
supposed  to  have  observed.  That  you  will  over- 
look, however,  for  I  owe  my  first  allegiance  to 
Austria." 

"  Quite  right,  Mr  Koinoff,"  Potocki  assented 
kindly.     "  Your  heart  is  in  the  right  place." 

I  was  pleased  with  my  old  schoolfellow, 
although  still  a  bit  mystified.  "  Koinoff,"  I 
asked,  "  what  is  the  conclusion  you  arrive  at  ? 
Is  Bismarck,  or  the  Bismarcks,  if  you  prefer  it, 
in  the  game  or  out  of  it  ?  " 

"  Speaking  for  myself,"  he  replied,  "  I  should 
say  that,  positively,  Bismarck  is  out  of  it,  since  his 
hand  refuses  to  work  in  the  matter.  Negatively, 
however,  he  may  be  in  it — that  is  to  say,  he  may 
approve  results  which  suit  his  particular  strategy. 
As  for  Herbert  Bismarck — he  may  be  a  man- 
hater,  but  he  is  no  murderer." 

"  And  as  you  must  have  divined  much  from 
the  correspondence  of  the  mind  of  the  Roman 
'  Blacks  ' — where  do  you  think  they  stand  ?  " 
I  asked. 

"My  dear  Youngster,"  he  replied,  falling  back 
on  an  old  Feldkirchian  term  by  which  the  juniors 
were  known  to  the  senior  pupils,  "  there  is,  in 
dark  matters,  always  a  point  at  which  the  Church 
retires  in  favour  of — the  secular  arm." 

"  And,"  asked  Potocki,  "  in  this  particular 
case,  where  do  you  find  the  secular  arm  ?  " 

"  In  Berlin,  Count;  in  Berlin,"  Koinoff  replied. 


188   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

"  In  another  month,  or  perhaps  even  less,  there 
will  be  a  new  occupant  of  the  throne ;  there  will 
be  new  men  and  new  measures.  I  have  just 
returned  from  Berlin,  and  I  tell  you  that  there  are 
to-day  thousands  of  mean  little  spirits  listening 
for  the  crash  that  will  bring  to  earth  the  only 
genuine  Colossus  that  Prussia  has  produced  in 
her  short  and  shabby  history — the  Imperial 
Chancellor,  Bismarck.  Bismarck's  reign  is  draw- 
ing to  a  close,  and  he  will  pass  as  others  have 
passed .  With  his  passing  will  succeed  the  feeblest 
and  most  impermanent  of  all  forms  of  govern- 
ment— that  which  rules  by  virtue  of  the  sword. 
And  mediocrity  will  sit  and  reign  where  real 
greatness  stood  and  served— the  most  pathetic  of 
all  mediocrities — namely,  that  which  expects  a 
minimum  of  capability  to  achieve  a  maximum 
of  performance." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Berlin  in  July  1888 — A  City  of  Martial  Law — Return  of  Wolfram 
to  Vienna — What  Kinsky's  Cousin  had  to  relate — His  Friend 
the  Bocher — Berlin's  Money-lenders  and  their  Satelhtes — 
Evidence  of  Inside  Information — Forging  the  Archduke's 
Handwriting — A  Forged  Letter  from  Rudolph — On  the  Trail 
of  the  Enemy — Intentions  of  Militarists  in  Berlin — Ineptitude 
of  Berlin's  Agents — Sharps  versus  Flats — Clerics  and  Con- 
spirators— Prince  Henry's  New-found  Importance— Bismarck 
and  Imponderabilia — The  Great  Imponderable — Natural  End 
of  Pork-eaters — Politico-Spiritual  Role  of  the  Vatican — 
Austria  and  the  Omens 

By  July  of  1888,  Wilhelm  II.  was  reigning  in 
Berlin,  and  though  I  was  not  myself  a  spectator 
of  the  obsequies  of  the  Emperor  Frederick,  I 
learned  from  members  of  the  Archduke's  suite 
that  a  change  had  already  come  upon  the  Prussian 
capital  as  marvellous  as  it  was  sudden.  Berlin 
had  always  been,  in  my  experience  of  it,  the 
world's  chief  exemplar  of  the  city  which  is  military 
first,  official  next  and  civic  last  of  all ;  the  very 
street-sweeper  appeared  to  be  conscious  of  possess- 
ing the  sacred  investment  of  an  authority  which 
distinguished  him  from  the  plain  citizen  ;  the 
policeman  looked  and  acted  the  part  of  a  quasi- 
military  being  who  dispensed  summary  permission 
to  ordinary  men  to  walk  the  highways  ;  even 
private  members  of  the  upper  classes  seemed 
grateful  for  the  privilege  of  being  allowed  to  tread 
the  side  walks  unscrutinised  and  unsuspected 
189 


190   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

of  the  sentinels  of  order ;  while  minor  social 
fry,  as  they  passed  along  with  stiff  business- 
like stride,  gave  foreigners  the  air  of  men  who 
inwardly  rejoiced  in  the  consciousness  of  being 
"  certified  correct."  And  as  for  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Caste,  from  the  rigid,  broad-beamed 
field  officer  to  the  chattering,  gesticulative  yet 
mightily  self-centred  subaltern — all  these  trod  the 
favoured  soil  with  the  processional  gait  of  gods 
who  had  condescended  to  a  momentary  incarna- 
tion on  a  very  humble  planet.  I  was  not  in 
Berlin  in  June  when  the  second  Emperor  of  the 
Germans  passed  to  the  elect,  but  my  imagination 
is  equal  to  conjuring  up  the  quality  of  the 
apotheosis  which  military  Berlin  took  on  with 
the  advent  of  its  new  Imperial  lord  of  war. 

To  some  intimate  and  important  degree,  apart 
from  high  politics,  we  in  Vienna  were  affected  by 
the  change.  The  youthful  Wolfram,  of  whom  I 
have  spoken  in  a  previous  chapter,  had  taken 
counsel  from  his  Swedish  mistress,  a  few  weeks 
before  the  death  of  Frederick,  and  had  consented 
to  abandon  his  loved  city  by  the  Spree  and 
come  to  Vienna.  With  him  came  the  blonde 
and  buxom  opera-singer  Stromberg,  and  both  of 
them  brought  tidings  which  substantiated  in  a 
close  way  all  that  Koinoff  had  told  Count  Potocki 
and  myself  at  my  flat,  as  I  have  also  related  in 
its  proper  place.  The  infatuated  couple  were 
seemingly  more  infatuated  than  before,  and  she 
and  Wolfram  had  gone  into  splendid  apartments 
in    the    Ringstrasze.     It    was   here,    during    my 


MY  FRIEND  WOLFRAM  191 

master's  absence  from  town,  that  I  met  the 
interesting  twain.  The  description  of  a  woman 
is  not  my  forte,  and,  in  any  case,  those  who  knew 
Paris  in  the  early  nineties — shortly  after  the 
marriage  of  Wolfram  to  a  lady  of  his  own  tribe 
— will  well  remember  the  spectacular  enough 
Swede  who  was  known  among  the  Parisian 
gommeux  as  the  ci-devant  femme  du  frere  d'Alle- 
magne.  Out  of  sheer  devotion  to  her  lover,  and 
in  order  to  further  his  quest  for  details,  the  Swede 
had  consented  to  return  to  her  only  too  willing 
Henry,  shortly  after  I  had  made  him  acquainted, 
in  March  1888,  at  the  old  Emperor  William's 
death,  with  the  urgency  in  which  we  stood  of 
finding  out  the  exact  nature  of  the  supposed 
intrigue  against  the  Heir  of  the  Habsburgs. 

"  As  you  will  recollect,"  Wolfram  explained  at 
our  meeting  alone,  "  your  intelligence  was  not 
less  startling  than  disquieting,  and  in  view  of  the 
nature  of  the  crime  planned  and  its  intended 
victim,  I  resolved  to  make  all  possible  sacrifice 
in  order  that  you  should  have  every  available  item 
of  information.  On  your  return  to  Vienna,  when 
I  considered  the  whole  matter  alone,  I  frankly 
admit  that  my  first  conclusion  as  to  the  chances 
of  being  able  to  help  you  was  one  of  despair,  and 
though  I  was  prepared  to  liquidate  all  I  possess, 
if  necessary,  in  order  to  get  the  required  informa- 
tion, I  realised  that  I  was  a  very  insignificant 
David  indeed,  when  faced  with  the  Goliath  of  a 
group  of  military  conspirators  of  whom  I  had 
hardly  even  heard.     At  times,  too,  I  was  inclined 


192   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

to  think  that  your  suspicions  at  Vienna  were 
based  upon  idle  dreams  and  vicious  fantasies 
rather  than  upon  anything  you  really  knew,  or 
even  upon  sane  deductions.  However,  on  reflec- 
tion, I  resolved  to  see  if  money — which  works 
with  subtler  magic  in  Berlin  than  in  any  other 
capital  I  know — could  help  me.  Accordingly,  I 
decided  to  rely  on  a  Bocher  friend  of  mine  who 
was  largely  in  my  debt,  hopelessly  so,  indeed,  and 
the  Bocher,  being  an  unnational  creature,  as  you 
well  know " 

"  Excuse  me,  my  dear  Wolfram,"  I  inter- 
rupted, "  but  is  this  some  new  word  you  are 
springing  on  my  philological  innocency  ?  I  am 
well  acquainted  with  a  multiplicity  of  argot  terms 
— but  what  the  devil  is  a  Bocher  ?  " 

"  My  poor,  poor  simpleton,"  replied  Wolfram, 
in  a  staring  kind  of  pity,  "  but  can  you  really 
pretend  not  to  know  what  is  meant  by  a  Bocher 
— you,  a  more  case-hardened  vagabond  than  the 
classic  fancy-man  for  whom  Calypso  couldn't 
console  herself  ?     You  surprise  me  !  " 

I  could  only  shake  my  head  in  token  of  un- 
worthy   ignorance. 

"  Well,"  explained  my  young  friend,  "  a 
Berlin  Bocher  is  a  flash  Jew,  and  it  is  only  Berlin 
that  breeds  them.  Sometimes  they  are  quite 
wealthy,  but  the  majority  of  them  are  fashionable 
money-lenders'  touts,  and  you  know  the  type 
of  gentry  who  oj^erate  in  that  particular  line  of 
commerce.  At  all  events,  my  particular  Bocher 
was  on  the  ribbed  sea  sands,  financially  speaking, 


A  BERLIN  BOCHER  193 

and  fast  approaching  the  rocks.  His  name  was 
Lazarus,  and  as  I  sympathised  with  the  fellow, 
I  lent  him  money — a  considerable  sum." 

"  You  resurrected  him,  in  other  words.  Christ- 
like man  !  "  I  commented. 

"  Don't  be  blasphemous,  my  friend,"  Wolfram 
went  on  ;  "  this  is  a  serious  matter.  I  had  kept 
counsel  regarding  the  whole  affair,  not  explaining 
even  a  word  to  Christiane.  With  Lazarus,  whom 
I  could  always  summon  in  respect  of  any  cattle 
the  stable  required,  I  successfully  sustained  for 
some  time  the  attitude  of  one  who  was  simply 
exchanging  the  gossip  of  the  day.  Not  for  long, 
however  ;  for  one  morning,  after  we  had  discussed 
the  matter  at  somewhat  greater  length  than 
usual — I  am  no  diplomatist,  you  know — Lazarus 
suddenly  approached  me  with  that  easy  famili- 
arity the  Jew  adopts  so  readily  with  people  in  our 
condition . 

"  '  Count,'  he  said,  '  you  know  Berlin  pretty 
well.  So  do  I.  Well,  then,  I  needn't  tell  you 
that  you  can  buy  anything  you  like  in  Berlin — 
including  information.' 

"  '  So-ho  !  '  I  exclaimed.  'But  I  am  no 
journalist.  I  buy  horses,  Lazarus.  I  buy 
carriages  and  wines,  as  you  know.  Yet  you 
talk  of  information — what  the  devil  should  I 
want  with  information  ?  ' 

"  The  Bocher  grinned  and  actually  put  his  two 
hands  on  my  shoulders,  looking  me  straight 
between  the  eyes. 

"  '  Count,'  he  said,  'you've  been  a  good  friend 

N 


194  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

to  me,  and  though  I'm  a  white  Jew,  I'm  also  a 
countryman  of  yours.  I'm  a  Pole.  I  come  out 
of  Cracow — a  city  which  you  well  know.  Besides, 
you're  related  to  those  Kinskys,  and  the  Kinskys 
have  always  been  good  to  our  people.' 

"  '  My  good  Lazarus,'  I  objected,  'all  this  may 
be  as  you  say.  But  why  should  you  suppose  that 
I  require  any  information  ?  Information  about 
what  ?  I  am  not  a  politician.  I  am  not  even 
in  the  diplomatic  service.  I  am  only  a  private 
person,  as  you  know.' 

"'Well,  now,'  he  replied,  'you  don't  need  to 
be  told  that  money  talks.  But,  believe  me,  those 
who  want  money  talk  more.  I  mix  every  day  of 
my  life  with  men  who  want  money  and  men  who 
lend  it.  We  hear  more  than  the  politicians  and 
the  diplomatists  put  together.  We  are  on  the 
inside  track,  and  if  you  want  an  inside  proof,  I'll 
give  you  one.' 

"  '  Indeed  ! '  said  I,  very  much  interested.  '  It's 
only  out  of  mere  curiosity,  Lazarus,  you  know  ; 
but  give  me  an  inside  proof  of  something  or 
anything — ^just  for  curiosity's  sake.' 

"  '  Then,  Count,'  replied  the  Bocher,  '  you  must 
know  that  it  is  the  business  of  money-lenders  to 
keep  their  eyes  open — ^upon  the  expert  forgers, 
for  example.  We  do  it  to  protect  ourselves,  and 
we  know  every  expert  forger  in  Berlin.  We  have 
a  hold  over  most  of  them.  The  Government 
offices  employ  their  services  occasionally,  and 
when  they  do,  we  are  fairly  certain  to  know  it — 
being  on  the  inside  track.     At  the  present  moment 


THE  CALLIGRAPHIC   ART  195 

an  expert  forger  is  working  for  an  important  man 
who  represents  a  more  important  man,  who  again 
represents  a  man  much  higher  up.  You  don't 
know  the  name  of  the  forger,  but  we  do  ;  and  we 
hold  him  for  a  Hfe-sentence  any  day  we  care  to 
put  the  drop  on  him .  Consequently  we  know  what 
he  is  forging.     Would  you  like  to  know,  Count  ?  ' 

"  '  I  certainly  don't  mind  being  told,  Lazarus,' 
I  replied. 

"  '  At  the  present  moment,'  replied  my  Bocher, 
'  he  is  forging  the  handwriting  of  the  Archduke 
Rudolph.' 

"'The  Archduke  Rudolph!'  I  cried.  'But 
why  the  Archduke  Rudolph  ?  Where  does  he 
come  in,  and  why  ?  ' 

"  '  Now  you  asked  me.  Count,'  returned  the 
Bocher  rather  querulously,  '  to  give  you  an  in- 
side proof  that  we  are  on  an  inside  track.  Have 
I  done  so — yes  or  no  ?  ' 

" '  You  certainly  have  done  so,  Lazarus,  if 
what  you  say  is  correct,'  I  replied. 

"  '  Correct  ?  '  the  Jew  exclaimed.  '  Do  you 
know  the  Archduke's  handwriting?' 

"  '  I  should  know  it  if  I  saw  it — certainly,' 
was  my  answer. 

"  '  Then  there  you  are,  Count.  Try  your 
knowledge  on  that,'  and  the  Bocher  handed  me 
a  letter  which  I  examined  very  carefully. 

"  '  That,  Lazarus,  is  certainly  the  Archduke's 
handwriting,'  I  admitted,  having  carefully  in- 
spected the  document.  '  You  have  made  no 
mistake  this  time.' 


196  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

" '  No,  Count,  I  have  not,'  was  the  reply ; 
'  but  you  have.  That  is  not  the  Archduke's 
handwriting.  This  letter  is  a  forgery  and  it  was 
done  here  for  practice  in  Berlin  on  paper  of  his 
own  cachet.  Now  would  you  say  we  are  on  an 
inside  track  or  not  ?  '  " 

At  this  juncture  Wolfram  rose,  went  to  a  small 
writing-desk,  extracting  a  document  which  he 
passed  to  myself.  It  required  no  great  familiarity 
with  it  to  realise  that  here,  indeed,  was  the  hand- 
writing of  the  Archduke,  my  master.  Even  I 
myself  could  not  detect  that  it  was  a  forgery. 
I  was  about  to  question  my  friend  when  he 
interrupted  me. 

"  Let  me  continue  to  the  end  of  this  story,"  he 
said.  "  The  reason  why  I  had  laid  the  Jew  under 
an  obligation  to  myself,  by  lending  him  money,  was 
due  to  something  more  than  sympathy.  I  had 
made  his  acquaintance  through  his  sister,  a  very 
amiable  Jewess  with  a  rich  rendezvous  in  the 
official  quarter,  which  was  really  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  an  assignation-house.  She  was 
under  certain  obligations  to  myself,  as  her  brother 
also  was,  and  I  felt  satisfied  that  I  could  trust 
them  both,  all  the  more  so,  you  will  understand, 
that  they  were  aware  how  far  I  was  prepared  to  be 
liberal — ^always  a  valuable  consideration  in  Berlin, 
where  paymasters  are  known  for  their  moderation. 

"  I  now  realised  that  your  suspicions  at  Vienna 
were  not  without  grounds,  and  I  decided  to 
see  what  was  the  final  object  in  view,  for  you 
must   understand,   my   Bocher   had   assured   me 


A  SCHOOL  OF  INTRIGUE  197 

that  among  the  sharp-witted  and  well-informed 
denizens  of  the  world  in  which  he  moved  it  had 
been  for  long  a  matter  of  private  gossip  that 
Kaiser  Franz,  as  well  as  his  Heir,  had  been 
marked  out  for  removal,  in  accordance  with  the 
new  notions  of  bringing  Austria -Hungary  under 
Prussian  domination.  I  also  learned  from  the  same 
source  that  a  division  of  opinion  was  said  to  exist 
hereanent,  one  party  urging  the  removal  of  the 
more  important  obstruction — namely,  Rudolph; 
while  the  extremists  advocated  the  extinction  of 
both  father  and  son,  as  being  more  Roman,  and 
therefore  more  worthy  of  the '  Mommsenite '  school. 
"As  you  well  know,  Berlin,  although  seething 
with  intrigue,  is  really  the  worst  of  all  possible 
schools  of  the  art  of  intrigue.  Men  like  yourself 
and  myself,  who  have  nothing  to  do  with  political 
plotting  or  schemes  which  involve  blood-letting, 
are  excusably  enough  naive  in  the  pictures  we 
conjure  up  of  deep -working  conspiracies,  and 
I  suppose  it  must  be  the  historical  romancers 
and  the  amateur  detectives  who  have  con- 
trived to  throw  so  blinding  a  glamour  over  the 
profound  and  sable  mysteries  with  which  their 
fancies  compel  them  to  wrestle.  I  have  come 
to  the  conviction,  however,  that  the  cleverest 
schemers  in  this  world  are  the  men  who  don't 
scheme,  and  that  the  men  of  honour  are  the  real 
sharps ;  for  if  I  am  to  judge  of  intrigue  and  con- 
spiracy by  what  goes  by  these  terms  in  the  Prussian 
capital,  then  I  am  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  Prussian  schemer,  high  or  low,  is  the  veriest 


198  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

flat  that  walks  the  earth — or  else  that  human  kind 
is  very  confiding,  indeed  ;  more  particularly  his 
victims. 

"  Acting  on  the  advice  of  Lazarus,  whose 
forger  friend  was  prepared  to  give  up  every  secret 
he  knew — at  a  price,  of  course — we  soon  learned, 
by  putting  pursuivants  on  his  trail,  that  the 
immediate  agent  for  whom  the  forger  worked  was 
a  high-school  teacher,  the  son  of  one  Krause,  at 
whose  house  lodged  Dr  Haake,  an  assistant  in  the 
private-service  department  of  the  Chancellor,  at 
the  head  of  which  is  Doctor  Petri.  Petri,  we 
learned,  had  in  his  time  been  a  cleric,  and  in  any 
case  was  known  to  be  well  in  the  confidence  of  the 
Roman  representatives,  who  are  now  pretty 
numerous  in  Berlin.  You  will  recollect  that  the 
forged  letter  which  you  have  just  read  dealt  with 
matters  respecting  religious  teaching  in  the  day 
schools  in  Prussian  Poland,  a  subject  which  has 
been  causing  the  priests  much  anxiety.  Clearly, 
then,  the  person  for  whom  it  was  meant,  though 
his  condition  or  identity  is  not,  comprehensibly 
enough,  indicated,  must  have  been  a  person  who 
held  an  important  position  in  Berlin — sufficiently 
important,  in  any  case,  to  be  able  to  use  his 
influence  in  high  places." 

"  That  ought  to  present  no  difficulty,"  I 
remarked.  "  The  Archduke  will  explain  the 
matter  on  his  return." 

"If  he  can  determine  the  date  of  the  letter — 
very  probably,"  returned  Wolfram.  "  Well, 
then,"  he  went  on,  "  using  the  services  of  the 


PRINCE  HENRY'S  PROMOTION       199 

Bocher's  aides,  we  discovered  that  Petri,  an  ex- 
cleric  and  probably  an  anti-cleric,  was  on  frequent 
visiting  terms  with  members  of  the  various 
clerical  representatives  in  Berlin — a  strange 
enough  situation.  A  certain  cleric  of  high  stand- 
ing both  in  Rome  and  Berlin,  and  not  long  ago, 
here  in  Vienna,  had  become  a  frequent  special 
visitor  to  the  establishment  of  Prince  Henry,  and 
the  Hohenzollems  are  not  pro-clerical,  if  we  ex- 
cept the  old  Empress  Augusta.  Not  Prince  Henry 
certainly.  Now  in  view  of  the  expected  demise 
of  the  Emperor  Frederick,  at  that  time  sorely 
stricken,  Prince  Henry  had,  at  the  instance  of 
the  Crown  Prince,  begun  to  play  a  more  important 
role  in  political  circles  than  formerly.  This  was 
very  plausibly  explained  to  us  on  the  ground  that 
since  Prince  William  realised  the  imminence  of 
his  own  accession,  he  found  it  essential  to  have 
near  him  a  member  of  his  family  who  could  play 
the  role  of  bon  camarade  with  the  spirits  who  up 
till  then  had  looked  upon  himself  as  their  leader, 
so  allowing  him  gradually  to  efface  himself,  since 
what  was  permissible  to  Prince  William,  and  even 
the  Crown  Prince,  would,  of  course,  be  unthink- 
able in  a  Kaiser  enthroned,  exposed  to  the  fierce 
criticism  of  watchful  Europe.  To  some  extent, 
then,  Prince  Henry  has  taken  the  place  of  Prince 
William." 

"And  the  Chancellor — what  of  him  ?  "  I  asked. 

"As  to  the  Chancellor,"  replied  Wolfram,  "it 
is  quite  certain  that  he  and  the  new  Kaiser, 
although  apparently  on   terms  of  good   temper, 


200  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

outwardly,  are,  inwardly,  sizing  each  other  up 
for  the  final  tussle — which  cannot  be  far  off." 

"  But  do  you  think  him  capable  of  going  to  the 
lengths  that  your  own  information  would  suggest 
— I  mean,  attempting  to  destroy  Rudolph  ?  " 

Wolfram  considered  a  little  while  in  silence. 

"  Have  you,"  he  finally  asked,  "  ever  heard 
of  Bismarck's  eminently  sane  doctrine  of  im- 
ponderabilia  ?  " 

"  I  must  confess,"  I  answered,  "  that  I  have 
not." 

"  Well,"  replied  Wolfram,  "  the  imponderabilia 
of  life  are,  as  you  know,  the  little  things  and  big 
which  one  cannot  weigh,  upon  which  it  is  im- 
possible to  calculate  beforehand,  the  nasty  little 
slaps  of  Fate  which  you  cannot  foresee,  the  un- 
forecastable  conditions  which  upset  the  odds-on 
chance,  the — the — well,  my  dear  fellow,  I  fear  I 
must  travel  to  America  for  the  word — the  almighty 
'  cussedness  '  of  contingencies  that  are  coming 
home.  As  to  Bismarck — like  yourself,  I  am  under 
the  spell  of  that  wizard — I  should  say  that  of  all 
imponderabilia  he  is  the  Great  Imponderable. 
Yet  I  think  he  is  too  brave  a  man  to  slay  in  the 
dark — and,  again,  I  do  not  know  what  to  think. 
These  Prussians  are  a  puzzling  proposition  ;  they 
are  not  the  supermen  they  think  they  are  ;  some- 
times they  are  not  even  men  ;  and  yet  they  are 
not  infra-men.  Expliquera,  morbleu,  le  Prussien 
qui  pourra — forgive  me  mishandling — Alfred  de 
Musset,  is  it  ?  Yet  I  think  the  sage  who  finally 
expounds  and  explains  the  Prussian  to  the  New 


POLITICO-SPIRITUAL  IDEAS         201 

Zealander  of  the  Millennium  will  build  his  hypo- 
thesis, not  implausibly,  on  the  fact  that  a  race 
which  devotes  its  existence  largely  to  the  con- 
sumption of  pork  must  end  by  becoming  largely 
—pig." 

"  Be  serious,  Wolfram,"  I  reproved ;  "  be  serious, 
and  come  down  to  cases.  Do  you  think,  as  it  is 
said,  that  the  Vatican  would  like  to  see  our 
Archduke  dead  ?  " 

"  There,  my  friend,"  replied  Wolfram,  "  you 
enter  again  into  the  region  of  the  imponderable — 
and  the  permanently  imponderable,  at  that.  To 
weigh  the  spiritual  is  hard  enough  ;  but  to  weigh 
the  politico-spiritual — there  you  have  the  enigma 
which  drove  Constantine  to  the  Bosporus,  which 
clove  the  policies  of  Charlemagne,  which  brought 
Henry  IV.  to  the  knees  of  Hildebrand,  which  pro- 
duced Luther  and  caused  the  Thirty  Years  War, 
and  against  which  Napoleon  himself  could  not 
prevail.  If  the  death  of  an  Archduke,  or  a 
hundred  Archdukes,  will  serve  the  political  ends 
of  Rome,  then  Rome  will  retire  into  her  spiritual 
fortress  and  weep  that  men  should  be  so  wicked ; 
but  as  a  spiritual  power,  she  will  make  it  her 
concern  not  to  oppose  the  passing  of  the  Arch- 
duke, that  being  the  privilege  attaching  to  the 
dual  condition  of  being  politico-spiritual." 

We  were  both  silent  for  a  moment,  and  then 
Wolfram  added  : 

"  Between  the  decadence  of  our  country,  with 
its  final  passing  into  the  vassalage  of  the  Hohen- 
zoUerns,  and  the  survival  of  its  integrity  and 


202  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

prestige,  there  stand  but  one  measure  and  one 
man  :  the  measure  is  the  nationahsation  of 
interests,  and  the  man  is  Rudolph  of  Habsburg 
— God  bless  him  !  Does  militaristic  Germany  wish 
to  see  such  a  revival  under  such  a  man  ?  What 
think  you  ?  And  you  know  what  the  education 
of  our  masses  will  mean  to  the  Vatican.  These 
are  the  omens,  so  far  as  I  can  see.' 


?5 


CHAPTER  XV 

Wolfram,  Christiane  and  Prince  Henry — The  Prussian  Prince's 
Threats — Lazarus  suggests  a  "  Reconciliation  " — Kaiser 
Wilhelm's  Various  Poses — His  Brother's  Equally  Simian 
Characteristics — Henry's  Affectation  of  Sailor-like  Simplicity 
— Christiane  returns  to  her  old  Lover — What  she  seeks  to 
discover — Plays  on  Henry's  Vanity — Antipathy  of  the 
Imperial  Brothers  towards  Rudolph  —  The  Vatican's 
Enigmatical  Role — Monsignore  Galimberti's  Aspirations — 
Christiane's  Flight  to  Vienna — Our  Precautions  to  protect 
Rudolph — His  Horror  of  being  "  Policed  " — Vienna  Foreign 
Office's  Ignorance — The  Case  of  Marie  Vetsera — Her  Regard 
for  Rudolph- — Koinoff  avoids  me — A  Successful  Double- 
Event — Rudolph's  Debts  and  Creditors — Where  Berlin 
came  in 

My  young  friend  Wolfram,  in  the  course  of  further 
conversation,  related  to  me,  with  not  a  little  of 
the  air  of  a  martyr  to  his  higher  sense  of  duty, 
I  thought,  how  he  had  forgone  the  society  of  his 
morganatic  Swede  for  the  better  part  of  a  month. 
Her  ci-devant  Imperial  patron,  Prince  Henry  of 
Prussia,  had  found  himself  unable,  I  have  said, 
to  bear  the  emptiness  of  life  to  which  the  defection 
of  Christiane,  in  favour  of  the  young  Polish  Count, 
had  in  a  large  measure  condemned  him.  Finding, 
too,  that  his  repeated  appeals  to  the  faithless 
songstress  to  return  to  him  proved  unavailing,  he 
had  recourse,  like  the  true  Prussian  he  was,  to 
threats  against  the  person  of  herself  and  that  of 
her  new  lover.  It  was  as  the  result  of  an  especi- 
ally menacing  communication  of  this  kind  from 
203 


204   LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

the  disconsolate  Imperial  sailorman  that  Christiane 
consented  to  meet  him  once  more,  but  only  with 
a  view,  as  she  wrote,  under  instructions,  to  making 
a  personal  appeal  to  what  was,  with  considerable 
humour,  described  as  the  "  better  feelings  "  of 
the  Hohenzollem. 

"  My  Bocher,"  Wolfram  explained,  "  had  a 
far  deeper  sense  of  intrigue  than  myself,  as  you 
may  suppose,  and  he  appeared  so  preternaturally 
anxious  to  probe  this  particular  situation  to  its 
most  intimate  source  that  I  suspected  he  was 
working  as  faithfully  for  a  patron  of  his  own 
tribe  as  he  was  in  my  own  behalf.  However, 
since  good  results  for  one  side  meant  good  results 
for  the  other,  I  felt  that  it  would  be  judicious  to 
allow  him  to  pursue  his  own  plans  unquestioned. 
It  was  at  the  suggestion  of  Lazarus,  then,  that  I 
found  myself  forced  to  part  with  Christiane,  who, 
although  the  return  of  her  Sailor  Prince  far  from 
proved  a  pleasant  prospect,  was,  womanlike, 
particularly  gratified  to  think  that  she  had  been 
chosen  to  play  an  important  part  in  a  plot  which 
involved  some  of  the  most  celebrated  people  in 
Europe.  The  role  assigned  to  her  by  the  Bocher 
was  conceived  on  what  Christiane  herself  already 
knew  of  the  character  and  habits  of  her  ex- 
lover.  The  Prince  was,  indeed,  even  more  typic- 
ally Prussian  than  his  brother,  the  new  Kaiser, 
in  a  certain  bovine  dullness  and  sluggishness  of 
mind.  Hardly  less  than  his  brother,  however, 
was  he  the  actor  of  a  specific  part. 

Everyone  in  Berlin,  and,  indeed,  most  Europeans 


A  PROTEAN  PRINCE  205 

who  knew  him  were  well  aware  that  the  specious 
eccentricities  of  William  had  been  thought  out, 
with  more  or  less  feeble  art  :  at  one  hour  he  was 
Frederick ;  at  another,  Napoleon  ;  in  the  morning 
he  was  Julius;  at  noon,  Tiberius;  at  night, 
Aurelius ;  and  even  the  role  of  the  world's  only- 
sublime  type,  Christ,  was  not  sacred  from  his 
histrionism.  In  other  words,  on  the  personality 
of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II.  there  was  no  cachet  what- 
ever, which  means  to  say  that  he  was  without 
character.  When  and  where,  we  may  ask  in  vain, 
was  Napoleon  ever  anyone  but  Napoleon  ;  or 
Caesar  anyone  except  Caesar  ;  or  Octavian  anyone 
but  Octavian  ;  or  Cromwell  other  than  Cromwell  ? 
These  are  the  characters  of  granite  that  send  a 
single  impress  of  themselves  moving  down  the 
cycles  of  storied  time,  ever  statuesque,  inefface- 
able and  unconfounded,  more  permanent  than 
eVen  history  itself.  How,  one  may  well  wonder, 
will  posterity  think  of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  II.,  and 
in  which  role  ? 

"Well,"  Wolfram  continued,  "Prince  Henry 
appears  to  be  affected  with  his  own  particular 
mania  for  playing  a  part.  He  is  not  less  simian 
in  disposition  than  his  brother  ;  indeed,  the  taste 
for  imitation  seems  to  be  a  characteristic  of  this 
entire  tribe,  as  it  is  also  a  specific  Prussian  trait. 
Somewhere  or  other,  however,  Henry  has  heard 
it  said,  or  has  read  that  your  true  sailorman  is 
remarkable  for  the  simplicity  of  his  character, 
and  this  is  the  especial  role  which  he  affects 
always  and  everywhere,  as  Christiane  was  able 


206  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

to  convince  us  by  many  an  incident  recalled. 
Have  you  ever  met  a  superannuated  ingenue,  or 
seen  her  play  what  she  thinks  is  the  part  of  artless 
and  prattling  simplicity?  The  male  counter- 
part of  this  curious  being  is  our  Prussian  Sailor 
Prince,  and  if  the  various  roles  enacted  by  his 
brother  are  wretchedly  enacted,  that  of  Henry  is 
the  limit  of  infantility.  Nevertheless,  he  shows 
himself  a  true  Prussian  in  the  inability  even  to 
suspect  that  which  is  the  ridicule  of  all  who  know 
him.  Christiane,  who  is  a  sufficiently  good  actress, 
found  no  difficulty  in  persuading  him  that  it  was 
regard  for  himself,  rather  than  any  fear  of  his 
threats,  which  had  induced  her  to  consent  to  see 
her  old  lover  again.  She  could,  moreover,  point 
to  the  fact  that  she  had  broken  off  the  liaison 
with  myself,  and,  in  token  thereof,  could  show 
that  she  had  taken  back  her  old  quarters  in  the 
Dorotheenstrasze — a  precaution  we  had  carefully 
provided  for. 

"Like  many  women  of  the  northern  latitudes, 
too,  Christiane  is  not  only  acutely  intellectual,  but 
is  also  possessed  of  a  strong  political  sense,  and 
was  capable  of  sounding  her  Imperial  patron  by 
the  Socratic  method  of  inquiry — a  gift  which 
women,  I  know,  rarely  possess,  but  which  when 
possessed  by  them  becomes  a  highly  effective 
instrument  in  the  eliciting  of  required  informa- 
tion. Li  the  case  of  anyone  less  vain,  a  woman, 
were  she  never  so  clever,  would  have  accomplished 
nothing ;  but  the  weakness  which  exposed  the  old 
Emperor  William  to  the  wiles  of  astute  women 


A  SIMPLE  SAILOR-PRINCE  207 

like  Anna  Viereck,  the  Jewish  actress,  or  Angela 
Papenberg,  was  clearly  hereditary  in  the  Sailor 
Prince.  That  vanity  of  affected  simplicity,  acting 
perhaps  in  conjunction  with  his  disposition  to  tell 
the  truth  under  the  malinspirations  of  Bacchus, 
was  powerless  against  the  inquisitorial  method  of 
Christiane,  who  in  a  short  while  was  able  to  inform 
us  of  the  exact  intentions  of  that  party  which  is 
now  known  as  the  militaristic  clique  in  Berlin,  and 
as  to  the  nature  of  which  the  Archduke,  from  what 
I  gather,  is  under  no  illusions.  So  far,  then,  we 
learned  little  which  we  had  not  already  divined. 

"  Evidently,  there  is  not  less  antipathy  in  the 
breast  of  Prince  Henry  towards  Rudolph  than 
there  is  in  the  heart  of  his  brother.  From  what 
could  be  gleaned  by  Christiane  from  her  old  lover, 
it  appeared  clear  enough  that  there  was  a  point  at 
which  his  initiation  into  the  positive  plans  of  the 
Berlin  military  party  stopped  short ;  and,  indeed, 
my  Bocher  was  probably  not  wrong  in  his  hypo- 
thesis that  in  view  of  the  nature  of  the  crime  which, 
presumably,  is  to  be  attempted  with  the  object 
of  removing  either  Rudolph  or  his  father,  or 
probably  both,  the  threads  of  any  such  con- 
spiracy were  as  yet  not  distributed,  and  that  even 
the  secret  of  a  decisive  intention  to  act  was  as  yet 
locked  up  in  the  breast  of  the  one  person  whom 
we  may  suppose  to  have  desired  the  stage  cleared 
of  both  Kaiser  Franz  and  his  Heir.  As  a  Swede 
of  the  popular  classes,  which  in  Sweden  are 
strongly  Lutheran,  Christiane  is  also  a  Protestant, 
and  consequently  any  evidence  of  an  anti-Catholic 


208  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

disposition  on  her  part  would  prove  neither 
extraordinary  nor  suspicious.  As  it  happened, 
however,  although  she  has  no  religious  bias  what- 
ever, this  especial  basis  of  inquiry  adopted  by  her 
with  her  patron — who,  like  most  men  of  feeble 
intellect,  is  strongly  anti-religious — proved  of 
considerable  value  in  putting  us  in  the  way  of 
tangible  information. 

"  Prince  Henry  very  openly  admitted  his  know- 
ledge of  the  fact  that  the  Vatican  feared  the 
advent  of  Rudolph  to  power  on  the  possible 
abdication  of  the  Emperor  Francis,  whose  uncle 
Ferdinand,  you  know,  had  abdicated  in  his  own 
favour  in  1848.  The  Roman  'Blacks'  looked 
upon  this  possibility  with  much  misgiving  and,  it 
was  clear  from  what  the  Prince  allowed  her  to 
know,  were  willing  to  approve  any  plan  or  plot 
which  should  prevent  such  a  contingency.  It 
was  not  for  nothing  that  the  Nuncio  Galimberti 
was  transferred  from  Vienna  to  Berlin,  as  you  well 
remember.  Nor  is  it  without  purpose  that  this 
prelate  has  become  so  pleasing  a  personage  to 
some  of  the  most  important  men  in  the  Prussian 
capital.  He  has,  indeed,  been  encouraged.  Prince 
Henry  admits,  to  look  forward  to  the  support  of 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  for  the  red  hat,  with  the  ultimate 
possibiHty  of  receiving  Imperial  suffrages,  when, 
in  the  course  of  time,  Leo  XIII.  shall  have  passed 
to  the  elect — a  contingency  which,  you  are  well 
aware,  is  looked  forward  to  as  likely  at  any 
moment  to  become  fact.  So  then,  in  so  far  as 
practical  results  were  obtainable,  we  may  assume 


VIENNA'S  F.O.  209 

that,  given  the  correctness  of  the  hypothesis  that 
the  Vatican  really  counts  for  something  in  the 
whole  affair,  our  quest  was  not  altogether  in  vain. 
Lazarus  has,  in  any  case,  carte  blanche  from  myself 
to  exercise  what  vigilance  he  thinks  necessary, 
and  in  view  of  the  excellent  sources  of  information 
open  to  his  sister,  whose  house  is  the  rendezvous 
of  well-known  members  of  the  military  clique  in 
Berlin,  we  may  reasonably  hope  to  be  kept  ap- 
prised of  any  new  moves  which  are  likely  to 
indicate  if  anything  in  the  way  of  definite  action 
is  contemplated,  and  when.  As  for  our  own 
departure  from  Berlin,  I  may  say  that  Christiane 
preceded  me  here,  practically  a  fugitive  from  an 
existence  which  had  become  intolerable,  and  it  was 
really  only  when  she  had  arrived  in  Vienna  that 
I  was  made  aware  of  the  fact  and  decided  also  to 
move,  leaving  my  household  gods  to  the  charge 
of  the  Bocher." 

At  this  time  Kalnoky  was  at  the  Foreign 
Ministry  in  Vienna,  and  as  I  had  worked  in  his 
department  as  a  dispatch-carrier,  or  Imperial 
messenger,  I  acquainted  him  with  what  I  knew. 
In  view  of  my  previous  acquaintance  with  the 
working  of  this  particular  Ministry,  I  was  not  at 
all  surprised  to  learn  from  the  lips  of  Kalnoky 
himself  that  nothing  whatever  had  been  as  yet 
divined  of  the  intrigues  which  were  then  being 
threaded  together  with  the  momentous  object 
of  inflicting  upon  Austria  a  loss  from  the  con- 
sequences   of    which    it    was    doubtful    if    she 


210  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

could  ever  recover.     London,  as  Kinsky  had  told 
me,    already    whispered    of    dread    possibilities; 
the  Foreign  Affairs  department  in  Brussels  had 
been    acquainted,    through     Solvyns,    with    the 
purport  of  these  whisperings  ;    even  Paris  news- 
paper   men    had    distributed    hints    on    several 
occasions  as  to  the  dangers  which  surrounded  the 
Archduke  Rudolph.     And  yet  Vienna's  Foreign 
Office  did  not  know,  or  affected  not  to  know  ! 
As  a  result  of  my  visit  to  our  Foreign  Office,  and 
after  the  intervention  of  Bombelles  and  Hoyos 
towards  the  same  end,  the  then  chief  of  police  in 
Vienna,  Szoegyeni,  certainly  redoubled  vigilance, 
and  for  some  time  the  officiousness  of  his  agents 
became  so  apparent,  not  only  in  respect  of  the 
person  of  the  Archduke,  but  also  in  the  way  of 
subjecting  the  Archducal  intimates  and  household 
officers,  including  myself,  to  the  attention   and 
scrutiny  of  his  pursuivants,  that  it  seemed  certain 
we  might  regard  both  our  master  and  ourselves 
as   reasonably  safe,  if  somewhat   uncomfortably 
so.     The  object  of  Szoegyeni  in  having  the  officers 
of   the   Archduke's   household    followed   was,    I 
afterwards  learned,  to  discover  to  what  extent 
any    member   or     members    of    his     Highness's 
might  be  in  touch  with  the  agents  of  Berlin.     If 
this  were  so,  then  our  chief  police  official  failed 
disastrously,  as  the  sequel  was  to  prove.     Let  it 
not  be  for  myself,  however,  to  seek  to  place  the 
blame  for  that  tragic  sequel  in  this  quarter ;  for, 
alas  that  I  should  have  to  write  it !  even  Viennese 
officialdom    was    in    those    days    so    intimately 


OUR  FEARLESS  PRINCE  211 

suborned  to  the  evil  will  of  Berlin  that  it  was 
impossible  to  say  which  was  the  loyal  man  or 
woman  and  which  the  paid  traitor. 

One  especial  circumstance,  moreover,  was 
destined  fatally  to  militate  against  the  sharpest 
and  most  comprehensive  circumspection  on  the 
part  of  those  who  loved  him,  and  that  was  the 
attitude  of  the  Archduke  Rudolph  himself  in  the 
face  of  any  possible  danger.  I  doubt  if  in  certain 
particulars  there  existed  a  much  stranger  being 
than  my  master.  There  were  subjects  on  which 
I  myself  never  dared  to  touch,  even  when  he 
honoured  me  with  the  most  intimate  approach 
to  his  own  mind,  and  I  do  not  think  others  were 
more  favoured  than  myself  in  this  regard.  That 
his  Imperial  sire  warned  him  in  regard  to  what 
we  feared  in  the  way  of  Berlin  machinations  is 
probable,  though,  of  course,  I  could  not  know 
anything  for  a  certainty.  Bombelles,  Hoyos  and 
Potocki — who  was  now  at  the  Embassy  in 
London — had  taken  advantage  of  one  occasion 
to  touch  lightly  upon  the  matter  and  to  suggest 
more  guardedness  on  his  part  in  his  goings  and 
comings,  and  in  his  familiarities  with  other 
societies  than  his  own.  The  Prince's  reception 
of  their  warnings  proved,  I  was  told  afterwards, 
sufficient  to  restrain  them  from  adventuring 
very  deeply  into  the  matter,  for  to  the  Archduke 
the  very  suggestion  of  officiousness,  or  even  the 
presence  of  a  busybody  in  his  surroundings,  was 
enough  to  call  forth  explosions  of  an  anger  which 
was  hardly  less  than  savage  in  its  worst  aspects. 


212  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

As  I  have  told,  he  was  a  man  of  superb  athletic 
development  and  strength,  and,  like  humbler  men, 
perhaps,  he  may  have  looked  upon  any  suggestion 
that  he  should  take  especial  precautions  for  the 
better  safety  of  his  own  person  as  an  imputation 
either  on  his  courage  or  on  his  ability  to  protect 
himself.  This  was  the  view  advanced  by 
Bombelles,  who  probably  knew  the  Archduke 
better  than  any  of  us  and  certainly  was  given 
more  latitude  by  him.  Personally,  however, 
I  am  inclined  to  take  another  view  :  often  in 
speaking  of  Napoleon,  Prince  Rudolph  had  com- 
mented on  the  simplicity  of  that  great  soldier, 
and  more  than  once  had  recalled  the  astonishment 
with  which,  as  historical  records  tell,  his  great- 
aunt,  Marie  Louise,  on  her  arrival  in  France,  had 
noted  the  slight  attention  which  Napoleon  paid  to 
the  protection  of  his  person.  This  Archduchess, 
who  had  been  accustomed  to  see  her  Imperial 
family  guarded  by  relays  of  sentinels  and  private 
police,  wondered  that  the  Corsican  should  have 
shown  so  small  a  regard  for  his  own  personal 
safety  in  times  especially  perilous  to  all  who  wore 
the  purple.  It  was  the  only  trace  of  imitative- 
ness  I  had  noted  in  the  Archduke,  but  I  am  sure 
the  example  of  Napoleon  counted  for  something 
in  this  horror  he  showed  at  being  guarded  by 
soldiers  and  secret-service  men. 

Often,  too,  have  I  heard  him  express  envy  at  the 
"gentleman's  freedom  " — this  was  the  phrase — of 
his  friend  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was  accustomed 
to  move  about  London,  or  visit  the  race -courses  of 


A  CASE  OF  LOVE  213 

England,  en  hon  bourgeois,  and  I  remember  his 
dwelling  with  a  sort  of  boyish  pleasure  on  the 
picture  of  the  youthful  Prince  George  of  Wales 
and  his  sister,  the  Princess  Victoria,  inspecting 
the  shop  windows  of  the  West  End  of  London 
unattended,  unanxious  and  almost  unobserved. 
The  extraordinary  vigilance  and  caution  which 
Szoegyeni  exercised,  when  warning  had  been 
given  him,  naturally  enough  went  through  a 
cooling  process,  all  the  more  so  because  there 
seemed  to  be  no  intention  of  immediate  action  on 
the  part  of  Berlin  ;  or  perhaps  it  may  have  been 
that  Prussian  agents  in  Vienna  had  already  found 
venal  spirits  among  those  whose  duty  it  was  to 
watch  over  the  Heir  of  the  Habsburgs. 

In  carrying  the  narrative  over  to  the  close  of 
the  year  1888,  I  may  say  that  already  the  Arch- 
duke's attachment  to  Mademoiselle  Vetsera, 
renewed  and  broken  again  by  intervals  of  ab- 
sence— or  indeed,  of  disagreements,  w^hich  were 
not  infrequent — was  undergoing  its  inevitable 
denouement.  And  since  in  this  especial  case  the 
Archduke  appeared — whether  through  policy  or 
not,  I  have  no  knowledge — to  look  for  a  final 
release,  while  the  lady  seemed  to  be  desirous  of 
binding  him  more  closely  to  herself,  I  think  I 
am  right  in  assuming  here  that,  for  once  at  all 
events,  the  theory  of  my  master,  regarding 
princes  and  their  mistresses,  was  at  fault.  For 
certainly,  if  this  poor  maid  did  not  love  the  Arch- 
duke, then  she  was  sacrificing  both  herself  and 
her  future  in  a  very   senseless  way,  supposing 


214  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

ambition  to  have  been  the  leitmotif  of  the  sacrifice 
to  which  few  unmarried  women  of  rank  will 
submit,  even  in  the  case  of  an  Imperial  heir.  And 
in  this  girl's  case  it  was  certainly  the  most  hopeless 
of  ambitions.  I  was  not  prejudiced  in  favour  of 
the  young  lady,  at  the  first ;  but  I  am  willing 
to  admit  that,  at  the  end,  I  considered  her 
attachment  for  the  Archduke  to  be  too  genuine  to 
admit  of  the  supposition  of  its  being  feigned.  I 
remember  especially  one  occasion  on  which  she 
sought  an  interview  with  my  master,  after  one 
of  those  misunderstandings  which  seem  to  be  the 
unvarying  portion  of  illicit  loves.  It  fell  to  my 
lot  to  be  at  hand  during  the  momentary  absence, 
in  another  chamber,  of  the  Archduke,  with  a 
Viennese  man  of  affairs,  and  I  shall  not  easily 
forget  either  the  beseeching,  childish  voice,  with 
its  strange  tones  of  mingled  hope  and  despair,  or 
the  feverish  expectancy  in  the  large  dark  eyes, 
when  she  asked  my  intervention  on  her  behalf. 
At  the  Archduke's  command,  I  conducted  her 
to  his  private  apartments,  and  my  own  experience 
of  affairs  of  this  kind  was  sufficient  to  allow  me 
to  know,  when  the  doors  closed  on  the  two  lovers, 
that  at  least  one  fair  maid  was  happy  in  Vienna 
that  afternoon.  As  the  custodian,  too,  of  the 
correspondence  of  the  Heir-Apparent,  I  came  to 
know  that  not  only  had  the  Baroness  Vetsera 
written  to  the  Archduke — evidently  at  the  request 
of  the  Empress  Elizabeth — asking  him,  for  her 
daughter's  sake,  to  put  a  term  to  a  liaison  which 
was  causing  unhappiness  to   both  parents  and 


MADEMOISF.LLE    MARIK    VETSERA.    JANUARY,    1889. 


KOINOFF  PROVES  SHY  215 

child,  but  also  I  knew  of  a  last  note  written  by 
Marie  Vetsera  to  her  lover,  in  which  she  expressed 
her  willingness,  in  his  own  interests,  to  agree 
that  they  should  not  meet  again  ;  a  letter,  I  could 
well  understand,  which  was  only  wrung  from  her 
at  the  most  painful  of  costs.  Thereafter,  I  saw 
her  no  longer  with  the  Archduke,  nor  at  their 
usual  rendezvous,  but  passed  her  several  times 
in  the  Gardens,  where  the  Vetsera  carriages  were 
the  most  splendid  in  the  capital.  And  then  it  was 
no  longer  the  Marie  Vetsera  of  1887,  full-faced, 
red -lipped  and  with  a  look  of  smiling  defiance 
in  the  great  eyes,  but  a  prematurely  aged  girl, 
listless  and  worn,  with  that  strange  contemplative 
look  which  more  than  once  I  have  noted  in  those 
whose  days  are  drawing  to  their  close. 

My  friend  the  old  Feldkirchian  appeared  dis- 
posed, although  closely  in  touch  with  Bombelles, 
I  thought,  to  avoid  me,  and  I  had  seen  him  at 
the  close  of  the  year  not  more  than  thrice,  the 
last  time  in  the  Park,  where  I  met  him  superbly 
moiuited  and  looking  unusually  prosperous.  I 
felt  entitled,  I  must  admit,  to  ask  him  the  cause 
of  this  unexpected  splendour,  and  did  not  hesitate 
to  do  so,  since  he  was  now  in  my  debt  to  a  very 
considerable  sum.  His  explanation  that  a  brilliant 
double-event  bet,  one  which  had  found  much 
vogue  in  that  year  at  Vienna — namely,  Tenebreuse 
and  Veracity  for  the  English  autumn  handicaps 
Cesarewitch  and  Cambridgeshire — had  been  the 
source  of  his  new-found  wealth,  hardly  proved 
satisfactory,  nor  did  my  ex-schoolfellow  appear 


216  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

to  desire  giving  any  full  details  of  his  coup,  not 
even  to  the  extent  of  suggesting  that  a  part  of  his 
winnings  should  be  transferred  to  where  they 
really  belonged — namely,  my  own  account.  In- 
cidentally, I  may  say  I  was  among  the  number  of 
those  who  had  been  fortunate  enough  to  touch 
the  Tenebreuse- Veracity  double-event,  a  piece  of 
information  which  had  come  to  the  Archduke 
from  Potocki,  who  was  then  in  London.  As 
usual,  in  that  unfortunate  year — over  the  close 
of  which  a  veritable  pall  of  melancholy  hung  with 
sinister  foreboding — my  master  failed  to  take 
advantage  of  chances  which  won  fortunes  for 
some  of  his  friends. 

It  became  part  of  my  business,  towards  the 
end  of  1888,  to  go  through  with  Count  Hoyos 
all  documents  relating  to  his  financial  affairs, 
and  although  we  were  prepared  to  discover  a 
huge  balance  on  the  wrong  side,  it  was  with 
something  like  dismay  that  we  found  our- 
selves faced  with  a  total  amounting  to  nearly 
half -a -million  sterling.  Herein,  I  may  say,  there 
was  a  single  hand  at  work  which  was  clearly 
moved  by  enmity  towards  the  Archduke.  The 
bulk  of  the  protested  notes  and  bills,  which 
poured  in  avalanche-wise,  were  held  by  Jews,  who, 
it  was  easily  explained  at  the  time,  were  moved 
to  active  hostility  to  the  members  of  the  Imperial 
family  by  what  had  always  struck  myself  as  the 
somewhat  insane  attitude  of  Kaiser  Franz  to- 
wards the  Hebrew  tribe.  This  explanation  was, 
I  learned  only  too  soon  and,  alas,  too  late,  entirely 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  HAND  217 

false.  The  scrip  relating  to  the  Archduke's  debts 
contracted  during  the  previous  few  years  had 
been  bought  up  methodically  and  persistently 
by  an  agent  in  Berlin,  whose  business-like 
punctilio  in  presenting  his  demands  was  inspired 
by  something  keener  than  even  the  commercial 
acumen  of  the  financial  Hebrews  of  our  capital, 
who,  so  far  as  my  experience  of  them  went,  I 
always  found  to  be  what  we  usually  termed  in 
Vienna  white  Jews. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Chez  Madame  Larricarda — Unpopularity  of  Myself — Prussians 
attend  her  Receptions  in  Large  Numbers — Koinoff  a  Note- 
worthy Absentee — Bombelles  and  Myself — My  Last  Visit  to 
the  Baroness  Larricarda's — Some  Accomplishments  I  possess 
— A  Contretemps  in  the  Card-room — A  Stiff  Retort — Am 
summoned  to  the  Archduke's  Study — Proposed  Visit  to 
Meyerling — I  am  given  a  Holiday — The  Archduke  on  Game- 
shooting — The  Prince  on  my  Vigilance — What  His  Highness 
knew — A  Healthy  Habsburg  Instinct — A  Direct  Warning  from 
Marie  Vetsera — The  Archduke's  Courage — His  Hope  for 
Austria's  Future — The  Triple  Alliance  in  Practice — The 
Archduke's  Opinion  of  Wilhelm  II. — England's  World-Role 
— "  Carthage  must  be  destroyed  " — His  Hopes  for  Social 
Democracy — Prince  Philip  of  Coburg 

At  least  one  house  in  our  gay  capital  seemed  un- 
affected by  the  indefinable  gloom  which  had  cast 
its  shadow  over  the  last  days  of  my  master. 
That  was  the  residence  of  Madame  Larricarda,  as 
I  have  chosen  to  call  her.  I  had  not  ceased  to 
attend  her  receptions,  although  I  was  perhaps  the 
only  one  of  the  Archducal  coterie  who  had  con- 
tinued to  do  so  since  the  Vetsera  liaison  came  to  a 
close.  At  the  time,  I  remember,  the  fact  that 
other  members  of  the  Archduke's  "  table- 
company  "  had  ceased  to  appear  at  the  Baroness's 
very  open  house  did  not  awaken  any  surprise  on 
my  part,  although  the  attitude  of  many  of  her 
visitors  towards  myself  might  have  stirred  a 
certain  obtuseness  which  has  ever  characterised 
me  in  my  relations  with  men  and  women  with 

218 


A  NEST  OF  PRUSSIANS  219 

whom  I  do  not  happen  to  be  on  terms  of  especial 
intimacy.  Owing  to  this  indifference  on  my  part, 
it  was  not,  indeed,  till  towards  the  last  days  of 
January  that  I  began  to  realise  that  I  seemed 
no  longer  to  be  on  the  same  footing  as  of  old. 
Not,  certainly,  so  much  that  my  hostess  seemed 
less  cordial,  as  that  her  attitude,  when  I  paid 
my  respects,  appeared  to  be  touched  with  some- 
thing of  hesitancy  and  constraint. 

On  taking  stock  of  the  situation  at  the 
Baroness's,  once  I  had  become  conscious  of  a 
change  of  attitude  and  tone,  towards  myself,  on 
the  part  of  the  majority  of  her  most  frequent 
visitors,  I  was  not  long  in  realising  that  the 
Baroness  herself  appeared  to  be  no  longer  mistress 
in  her  own  residence.  As  I  have  already  told, 
her  receptions  were  always  noted  for  the  number 
of  men  of  the  German  corps  diplomatique  whom 
they  attracted.  My  own  frequent  visits  to  Berlin, 
added  to  the  fact  that  I  had  always  cultivated  a 
somewhat  cosmopolitan  detachment  of  mind  in 
regard  to  all  who  spoke  German,  had  had  the 
effect  of  making  me  careless  as  to  observing  who 
was  Prussian  and  who  Austrian,  although  the 
social  difference  is  great,  the  balance  in  respect 
of  superiority  of  manner  and  general  savoir- 
faire  being  entirely  in  favour  of  my  countrymen. 
Awakened  to  closer  observation,  I  noticed,  how- 
ever, that  not  only  were  the  Prussians  in  far 
greater  number  than  ever,  but  that  only  a  small 
fraction  of  them  were  at  all  connected  with  either 
diplomatic  Berlin  or  its  consular  representatives. 


220  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

Some,  indeed,  appeared  to  belong  to  that  motley 
gathering  of  sharp  individuals  who  are  to  be  seen 
on  every  race-course  in  Europe — well-dressed, 
polyglot,  easy-mannered  and  plausible.  For 
Koinoff,  in  those  days,  I  looked  in  vain  ;  as 
one  who  knew  Berlin  official  and  semi-official 
characters  well,  he  might  have  given  me  some 
valuable  information  regarding  the  new  arrivals 
who  appeared  to  be  so  much  at  home  in  the 
Baroness's  establishment.  As  a  member  of  the 
Archducal  household,  I  was  not — as  none  of  us, 
indeed,  could  boast  of  being — an  acceptable 
person  at  the  Nunciature ;  consequently  I  was 
unable  to  call  there,  and  in  any  case,  the  visit  of 
a  person  so  closely  allied  to  Prince  Rudolph  must 
have  awakened  suspicions  which  would  have 
been  neither  to  his  own  benefit  nor  to  that  of  my 
role  of  vigilance.  With  Count  Bombelles,  more- 
over, I  was  not  on  terms  of  anything  like  friendly 
intercourse  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1888, 
a  state  of  affairs  which  was  due,  I  think,  to  the 
fact  that  the  Archduke  had  latterly  been  accus- 
tomed to  accord  me  a  degree  of  intimacy  which  the 
old  chief  equerry  resented  in  one  who  was  not 
only  much  younger  than  himself,  but  who  was  also 
a  comparative  stranger  in  a  coterie  in  which,  after 
the  Crown  Prmce,  he  had  formerly  played  the 
part  of  a  kind  of  eminence  grise.  I  was  hardly, 
then,  unjustified  in  thinking  that  the  somewhat 
novel  attitude  adopted  towards  me  by  the  ex- 
scholastic  of  Feldkirch — an  attitude  the  amusing 
aspect  of  which  had  not  escaped  my  sense  of 


I  RECOMMEND  MYSELF  221 

humour — was  due  to  some  suggestion  on  the  part 
of  Bombelles  ;  all  the  more  so,  as  when  I  had 
ventured  to  question  him  regarding  Koinoff's 
reliability  the  Count  allowed  me  to  understand 
that  I  was  concerning  myself  with  matters  which 
did  not  lie  in  my  province. 

The  last  visit  paid  by  me  to  Baroness  Larri- 
carda's  took  place,  as  my  records  tell   me,   on 
Friday,  25th  January  1889,  and  on  this  occasion, 
one  of  somewhat  boisterous  festivity,  I  well  re- 
member,   I  was   left   under  no   illusion   by   my 
hostess's  Prussian  guests  that  my  presence  was 
no  longer  looked  upon  with  favour  by  the  gentle- 
men from  Berlin.     Here  I  may  say  that  one  of  the 
qualifications  which  had  mainly  recommended  my 
humble  self  to  the  Archduke  was  my  swordsman- 
ship, an  art  in  which  he  himself  excelled  beyond 
all  other  men  with  whom  I  had  ever  crossed  steel. 
I  was,  it  may  be  added,  the  only  one  in  his  en- 
tourage capable  of  meeting  him  on  anything  like 
level   terms.     Although    averse   from    the    sport 
of  slaughtering  animals  of  any  sort,  I  was  never- 
theless known  to  be  an  excellent  hand  with  the 
duelling-pistol.     These    were    facts    with    which 
most  men  in   Berlin  and  Vienna  were  well  ac- 
quainted, and  as  my  bearing  was  such  as  invariably 
won  me  respect  in  all  male  circles,  I  could  regard 
with  equanimity  anything  like  a  hostile  attitude 
towards  myself  on  the  part  of  all  and  sundry  who 
cared  to  indulge  in  this  form   of  impertinence. 
Towards  midnight   on    this   particular  occasion, 
finding  few  of  my  own  acquaintances  present,  and 


222  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

feeling  that  I  was  avoided  for  some  reason  or 
other  by  the  majority,  I  wandered  towards  the 
card-room,  with  some  vague  expectation  of  finding 
the  Feldkirchian  there.  As  I  passed  one  of  the 
tables  at  which  an  unusually  spirited  set  were, 
Prussian  fashion,  playing  a  noisy  game,  I  heard 
my  name  loudly  called  by  a  man  of  the  party. 
There  was  no  doubt  about  the  intended  offensive- 
ness,  for  as  I  turned  towards  the  aggressor  he 
added  scornfully  : 

"  Your  fellow-student,  Koinoff,  has  shown  the 
white  feather  and  refuses  to  play  the  man.  Are 
you  hardy  enough  to  play  it,  Oesterreicher  ?  If 
so,  take  a  seat  and  let  us  see  if  you  are  as  lucky 
with  the  cards  as  you  are  said  to  be  with  the 
horses." 

I  had  seen  this  man  on  Austrian  and  German 
race-courses,  but  had  never  made  his  acquaintance. 
For  a  Prussian  to  address  an  Austrian  as  Oester- 
reicher was  held,  in  those  days,  I  may  say,  to  be 
a  term  indicating  racial  inferiority,  as  all  present 
knew. 

"  Sir,"  I  retorted,  "  I  have  not  the  honour  of 
your  acquaintance,  and  do  not  even  know  your 
name.  I  hope,  however,  that  it  is  a  better  one 
than  your  manners  would  seem  to  indicate." 

There  was  sufficient  in  what  I  said  to  constitute 
what  any  Prussian  and  most  Austrians  would  call 
a  "  Beleidigang,"  or  deliberate  intention  to  offend, 
and  my  attitude  emphasised  the  sense  in  which  I 
intended  the  words  to  be  understood.  "  Austrian, 
I    certainly  am,  as  you  mention    it,"  I  added  ; 


I  PLAY   MY  CARD  223 

"  but  do  not,  please,  forget  that  you  are  also  the 
guest  of  one." 

My  Prussian,  who  had  clearly  been  drinking, 
hardly  expected  an  answer  of  this  sort,  and  sought 
with  a  weak  laugh  to  give  the  matter  a  playful 
turn. 

"  Come,  now,"  he  replied,  "  Koinoff  has  told 
us  all  about  you.  He  is  your  friend,  and  since 
he  declines  the  combat,  you  hold  his  reputation 
in  your  hands." 

"  Mr  Koinoff,"  I  rejoined,  "is  no  doubt  equal 
to  the  task  of  protecting  his  own  reputation.  He 
plays  with  friends.  So  do  I.  In  this  case,  that 
could  not  be,  since  I  do  not  know  you,  and  you 
refuse  your  name.  So  be  it ;  you  shall  at  all 
events  have  mine.  Here  it  is  :  any  friend  of  yours 
who  cares  to  carry  your  name  and  requirements 
to  that  address  shall  receive  every  possible  atten- 
tion. In  the  meantime,  gentlemen,  let  me  not 
disturb  your  game.  I  wish  you  a  very  good- 
night— though  to  you,  sir,"  I  added,  addressing 
my  aggressor,  "  I  prefer  to  say — au  revoir.^^ 

Having  delivered  myself  of  this  unequivocal 
little  speech  and  placed  my  card  upon  the  cable, 
I  left  the  room  and,  soon  afterwards,  the  place, 
for  the  last  time  in  life.  My  steps  took  me  to 
headquarters,  where,  as  I  was  well  aware,  the 
Archduke  was  busily  engaged  upon  a  literary 
sketch  which  he  had  promised  to  his  friend  Weilen. 
It  was  the  custom  of  his  household  at  such  times 
not  to  intrude  upon  his  labours,  and  although 
I   made   my  presence   known   to   His   Highness 


224  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

through  Loschek,  his  body-servant,  in  case  he 
should  have  any  commands,  I  had  no  expectation 
of  being  called  to  his  petits  appartements.  Some- 
what to  my  surprise,  however,  I  received  a 
summons  to  wait  on  him,  and  forthwith  proceeded 
to  his  cabinet,  where  I  found  him  in  the  throes  of 
literary  work.  Simplicity  was  the  note  of  every 
action  of  the  Archduke,  as  indeed  it  was  a  salient 
characteristic  of  Kaiser  Franz  and  all  the  members 
of  this  princely  tribe,  and  he  worked  as  any 
ordinary  writer  might  be  expected  to  work  in  his 
study,  wearing  a  short  sack-coat  of  blue  silk,  and 
smoking  a  long-stemmed  rohrpfeife.  He  motioned 
me  to  a  chair  beside  the  fire  of  blazing  logs. 

"  Some  of  the  game  wants  thinning  at  Meyer- 
ling,"  he  began,  "  and  I  have  decided  to  spend 
next  week  there  with  Prince  Philip  and  Hoyos. 
So  if  you  have  any  especial  excursion  you  wish 
to  make  I  shall  be  able  to  dispense  with  your 
services  during  my  absence  from  Vienna.  I 
return,  of  course,  for  Monday  week — the  fourth 
of  February.     You  are  free  till  then." 

A  slight  pause. 

"  Your  last  visit  to  Meyerling  was  not  a  success, 
I  fear,"  he  went  on  ;  "  otherwise  I  should  have 
included  you  in  the  party.  But  you  do  not 
shoot,  I  think  ?  " 

"  My  experience  with  a  sporting  gun  has  been 
limited,"  I  replied,  adding  :  "  although  I  trust 
so  small  a  matter  will  not  deprive  me  of  the  honour 
of  attending  on  your  Highness." 

"  No,"  he  answered  kindly,  "  you  seemed  bored 


A  CROSS-EXAMINATION  225 

the  last  time  you  went  down  with  us.  Indeed, 
I  hardly  blame  you.  Slaughtering  deer  at  close 
range,  as  we  slaughter  them,  is  not  very  sports- 
manlike, I  fear.  I  have  stalked  them  in  Scotland, 
and  I  think  they  manage  things  better  over  there. 
At  least  from  the  deer's  point  of  view,"  he  added, 
with  a  laugh  ;  "  there  he  gets  a  better  chance  for 
his  life.  No,  you  had  better  kill  your  time  in 
some  pleasanter  manner  during  our  absence.  In 
any  case,  correspondence  can  wait." 

Here  he  rose  and  took  his  stand,  back  to  the 
fire. 

"  Tell  me,"  he  went  on,  half  musingly  and  with 
a  kindly  smile,  "  little  birds  have  been  whispering 
to  me  lately.  I  hear  you  have  been  exercising 
your  mind  in  an  endeavour  to  penetrate  the  dark 
mysteries  of  Berlin's  political  underworld,  and 
with  especial  reference  to  my  own  personal  safety. 
Now  why  ?  " 

"  I  will  not  attempt  to  deny  the  correctness  of 
your  Highness's  information,"  was  my  answer  ; 
"  but  my  efforts  limited  themselves  to  investigat- 
ing the  truth  of  rumours  which  had  come  to  my 
knowledge." 

"  And  the  purport  of  these  rumours  was  ?  " 
he  inquired. 

"  Something  very  disastrous  for  our  country — 
without  a  possibility  of  doubt !  "  I  replied. 

"Meaning,  of  course,  an  attempt  on  the  life 
of  the  Emperor  inspired  by — Berlin  ?  "  he 
suggested. 

It  is  an  unfortunate  condition  of  royal  and 


226  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

imperial  rank  that  those  who  can  best  serve 
princes  are  forbidden  by  a  foolish  etiquette  from 
speaking  to  them  as  ordinary  men  speak  to  one 
another.  A  humorous  fancy  crossed  my  mind 
just  then  of  Wolfram's  Bocher  answering  such  a 
suggestion,  and  in  my  mind's  eye  I  could  see  him 
clapping  a  pair  of  fat  hands  upon  the  shoulders 
of  the  Heir  of  the  Habsburgs,  as  he  had  done  to 
Wolfram,  telling  the  Archduke  he  was  "  a  white 
Jew  out  of  Cracow,"  and  advising  him  that  Berlin 
was  thirsting  for  all  the  Habsburg  blood  in  sight. 
I  could  not  treat  His  Highness  with  this  whole- 
some bluntness,  so  answered  tentatively : 

"  If  all  rumours  are  correct,  I  think  that  Berlin 
means  to  strike  very  deeply  and " 

"  — and  include  myself  in  its  organised  assas- 
sinations," my  master  interrupted.  "But  all  this 
is  known  to  myself  and  to  the  Emperor." 

It  was  on  my  lips  to  suggest  that  this  being 
the  case,  both  the  Emperor  and  his  Heir  would 
serve  their  dynasty  better  by  a  less  generous- 
minded  neglect  of  precautions  for  their  personal 
safety ;  but,  again,  I  wisely  remembered  and  was 
silent. 

"  I  divine  your  thought,"  the  Archduke  ex- 
claimed. "You  think  that  I  expose  myself  too 
openly  to  the  attack  of  the  paid  assassin.  Perhaps 
I  do  ;  perhaps  my  father  does  ;  but  believe  me,  it 
is  the  healthy  instinct  of  the  Habsburgs." 

Here  he  walked  over  to  his  writing-table  and 
searched  among  some  papers. 

"  You  saw  my  correspondence  this  morning,"  the 


HEALTHY  HABSBURG  INSTINCTS    227 

Prince  went  on.  "  Among  them  you  noted  one 
of  our  own  cachet — here  it  is.  Do  you  know  the 
purport  of  this  communication  ?  "  he  asked, 
holding  up  an  envelope. 

"  I  could  not  guess,  indeed,"  I  replied,  wondering 
who  his  correspondent  might  be. 

"  This  letter,"  he  explained,  "  is  a  solemn 
warning  to  me  not  to  go  to  Meyerling." 

I  could  only  express  a  mute  astonishment  at 
what  the  Archduke  told  me. 

"  And  could  you  guess  the  writer's  name  ? 
No,  you  could  not,  I  know.  Well,"  he  went  on; 
"I  will  tell  you.  The  writer  was  Mademoiselle 
Vetsera." 

I  was  certainly  not  prepared  to  hear  this  bit  of 
information,  and  looked  the  surprise  I  felt. 

This  young  lady,"  the  Archduke  proceeded, 
is,  as  you  may  have  heard,  somewhat  mystical 
in  character.  Of  the  sincerity  of  her  intention 
I  have  no  doubt.  But  do  you  think  a  thousand 
warnings  would  keep  me  from  carrying  out  any 
programme  I  had  decided  on  ?  " 

"  Unfortunately  I  am  afraid  not.  Highness," 
I  replied,  and  noted  his  answering  laugh. 

"  I  think  sufficiently  highly  of  the  princes  of 
Europe,"  he  replied,  "  to  dare  say  that  there  is 
none  who  would  allow  the  fear  of  death  to  prevent 
him  from  carrying  out  a  set  purpose.  I  doubt, 
however,  if  it  could  even  enter  into  the  mind  of 
us  Habsburgers  to  do  so,  and  this,  again,  is  what 
I  call  one  of  the  wholesome  instincts  of  the  race. 
We  may  pass,  but  the  throne  remains.     What  does 


228  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

it    matter    which    of    us    succeeds — myself    or 
another  ?  " 

"  The  popular  parties  repose  large  hopes  in 
your  political  activities,"  I  replied.  "  It  would 
be  a  bad  thing  for  our  country  if  the  popular 
movement  were  arrested  ;  I  would  even  say  a 
dangerous  thing  for  its  integrity." 

"  Do  you  remember  that  Napoleon  once  said 
he  was  more  necessary  to  France  than  France  was 
to  him  ?  "  the  Archduke  answered.     "  Well,  that 
is  precisely  the  position  in  which  the  Habsburgs 
stand  towards  Europe,  and  as  long  as  w^e  hold  that 
position,  the  integrity  of  our  Empire  is  safe.     He 
will  be  a  poor  Habsburger  who  loses  the  Imperial 
throne   irretrievably   for   our   House   and   I  will 
admit  that  only  a  Habsburger  can  hold  the  Empire 
together.     Bismarck  realised   this  in  1866  when 
the  Prussian  armies  marched  to  within  sight  of 
the  Hofburg  towers,  although  his  master.  King 
William,  was  already  anxious  then  to  put  Pan- 
Germanism    to    the    test — to    disintegrate    the 
dominions,   in   other  words.     Had    the  attempt 
been  made  at  that  time,  Europe  would  have  risen 
in  arms  to  prevent  it,  and  Austria  would  have 
been   reinstated    in    her   headship    of    Germanic 
Europe.     Our  eclipse  is  not  a  permanent  one, 
believe  me,  and  we  shall  yet  regain  the  headship 
of  All-Germany.     It  is  the  logic  of  the  map,  and 
we  are  the  only  power  in  Germany  able  to  hold 
it  with   unquestioned   right   and   with   Europe's 
respect.     Napoleon  saw  this  when  he  regretted, 
at  St  Helena,  not  having  dismembered  Prussia 


AUSTRIA  AND  PRUSSIA  229 

and  reduced  it  to  its  original  proportions  under 
the  Elector.  Fortunately  the  Habsburgs  exist, 
so  it  is  not  necessary  to  invent  us." 

"But  the  Triple  Alliance,"  I  suggested;   "it 
surely  makes  for  the  paraniountcy  of  Prussia  ?  " 

"  The  Triple  Alliance,"  replied  the  Prince,  "  is 
only  a  Triple  Alliance  on  paper  and  in  theory. 
As  long  as  England  owns  a  navy,  she  can  decide 
absolutely  the  question  of  Italy's  adherence  to  the 
terms  of  that  document.     Bismarck  knows  this. 
In  practice  it  can  only  be  a  Dual  Alliance,  with 
a   very   half-hearted   adherence   on    the    part   of 
Austria.     Indeed,  force  majeure  obliged   Austria 
to  enter  into  it ;  the  alternative  was  attack  by 
Prussia.     And   against  a   European   coalition,   I 
can  imagine    but    one    ending.     My    father    has 
shown  greater  prevision  than  men  have  credited 
him  with.     Austria  stands  to  win  in  any  event. 
With  the  break-up   of   Prussian  militarism,  the 
Confederation   must   fall.     Bavaria   and    Saxony 
are  with  us  at  heart.     The  House  of  Habsburg 
still  holds  the  best  cards  in  all  Germany,  so  far 
as  I  can  see." 

"  Would  your  Highness  say,"  I  asked,  "  if 
the  new  regime  in  Prussia  is  likely  to  precipitate 
the  long-prophesied  war  ?  " 

"  With  so  neurotic  a  sovereign  as  the  new 
Emperor,"  the  Archduke  replied,  "  one  can 
never  prophesy  along  conventional  lines.  If  his 
speeches  prove  the  measure  of  his  character,  then 
I  should  admit  the  approach  of  war  as  highly  prob- 
able, since  he  rarely  speaks  without  antagonising 


230    LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

Europe.  There,  however,  we  enter  into  the  domain 
of  what  his  Chancellor  has  aptly  termed  imponder- 
abilia.     Arguing   from   the   long-set   programme 
of  Prussia,  we  are  on  safer  grounds,  and  myself 
I  think  war  a  certainty  of  the  future  ;  all  the 
more  so  as  it  aims,  by  incorporating  the  Nether- 
lands in  the  Confederation,  at  the  establishment  of 
a  great  navy  along  an  extended  sea -board.     Here 
England  enters  into  the  case,  and  it  is  very  much 
to  be  doubted  if  she  will  look  on  idly  at  the 
building  of  a  large  naval  force  in  the  Baltic,  which 
may  well  threaten  her  very  sovereignty.     In  the 
days  of  Pitt  such  a  plan  and  programme  would 
never  have  gone  beyond  the  stage  of  a  suggestion 
or  a  dream.     With  its  realisation  in  the  custody 
of  such  a  man  as  Kaiser  Wilhelm,  an  enslaved 
world  would  witness  the  spectacle  of  a  German 
Empire    supported    by    the    twin    bulwarks    of 
militarism  and  navalism,  and  the  assured  revival 
of  Feudalism  for  a  cycle  of  years.     This  is  why 
'  Carthage  must  be  destroyed '  again,  and  it  is 
also  the  reason  why  I  have  always  held  that  the 
very  existence  of  Britain  and  her  possession  of  a 
naval  power  which  she  has  not  abused,  almost 
point    to    providential     intervention    in    human 
affairs.     And  again,   it  points  the  logic   of    my 
philosophy  that  Austria's  loss  of  the  headship  of 
Germanic  Europe  is  not  a  permanent  one.     But 
we  are  not  going  back  to  the   Dark  Ages  ;    les 
peuples  sont  trop  eclaires,  as  Napoleon  remarked 
to  Roederer  on  the  day  following  his  Coronation 
in  1804( — the  nations  are  becoming  too  enlightened, 


A  FORBIDDING  PRINCE  231 

and  even  in  the  Confederation  there  is  now 
growing  into  manhood  a  giant  which  may  save 
Germany  from  its  insanities  ;  it  is  called  Social 
Democracy." 

I  was  far  from  displeased  at  the  prospect  of  not 
having  to  go  to  Meyerling,  in  the  first  place, 
because  I  am  not  a  willing  slayer  of  life,  and 
secondly,  because  my  conge  would  enable  me  to 
avoid  a  meeting  with  Prince  Philip  of  Coburg, 
a  man  of  sinister  presence  and,  in  my  own  opinion, 
one  whose  friendship  towards  my  master  did  not 
stand  the  test  of  a  close  analysis.  That  Made- 
moiselle Vetsera  should  have  directly  warned  the 
Archduke  not  to  proceed  to  Meyerling  was  a 
matter  which  gave  me  much  whereon  to  ponder. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Prince  Rudolph  as  Sportsman — His  Exploits  in  Danubian 
Countries — A  Student  of  Zoological  Traits — Some  Deductions 
from  liis  Studies — An  Emersonian  Bias — Game-hunting  in 
German  Countries — A  Chapter  from  Cornhill — A  Favourite 
Keeper — The  Ritual  of  Deer-hunting — Tracking  the  Roe — 
Placing  the  Guns — Beaters  at  Work — Routing  out  the  Game 
— Some  Democratic  Touches — Congratulations  on  Sports- 
manship—A Processional  Return  Homewards — The  Song  of 
the  Beaters 

Prince  Rudolph,  it  is  well  known,  had  written 
several  notable  works,  one  a  description  of  the 
Danube,  with  particular  reference  to  the  zoological 
aspects  of  its  vast  forestries.  He  had  hunted  the 
chamois  in  Styria,  trapped  wolves  on  the  Lower 
Danube  and  helped  to  thin  out  the  deer  wilds 
of  Under  Austria  and  South  Germany  generally, 
for  he  was  ever  a  welcome  addition  to  all  the  great 
sporting  estates  within  easy  reach  of  our  capital. 
I  often  doubted,  however,  if  he  found  any  real 
pleasure  in  slaying  animals,  and,  indeed,  Dr  Udel 
once  assured  me  that  his  hunting  excursions  were 
mainly  designed  with  a  view  to  studying  at  close 
range  the  traits  and  habits  of  the  beasts  of  the 
forest.  He  had  also  made  a  protracted  investiga- 
tion into  the  beaver  colonies  of  the  Danubian 
reaches,  and  was  said  to  have  observed  that  the 
result  of  his  observations  had  forced  him  into  a 
stronger  realisation  than  ever  that  man's  claim 

232 


AN  EMERSONIAN  BIAS  233 

to  be  endowed  with  a  divinely  created  intelligence 
was  the  outcome  of  arrogance  and  pride. 

As  he  grew  older  and  read  more  profoundly — 
and  there  has  been  no  more  deeply  read  prince 
in  the  history  of  the  world — it  was  easy  to  note 
that  his  mind  became  touched  with  that  inevit- 
able melancholy  that  follows  upon  philosophical 
speculation  which  pathetically  enough  seeks  to 
reconcile  things  as  they  are  with  the  claim  of 
those  religious  teachers  who  maintain  that  there 
is  a  better  world  to  come.  He  had  observed, 
among  animals  in  the  wilderness,  I  once  heard  him 
say,  every  evidence  of  an  elementary  morality 
which  Avas  based  on  a  natural  law  of  possession  ; 
among  domesticated  animals  this  sense  grows 
into  something  akin  to  a  rudimentary  code,  and 
in  the  higher  types  we  find  unmistakable  indica- 
tions that  they  possess  the  quality  of  self-respect, 
which  is  a  safe  enough  basis  for  those  moral 
ideas  which,  in  the  case  of  man,  ultimately  find 
their  efflorescence  in  a  religious  law.  His  mind 
was,  indeed,  drifting  towards  the  Emersonian 
idea  of  "  Compensation  "  as  affording  a  sufficiently 
sound  explanation  of  such  ideas  as  conscience  and 
honour  as  the  basis  of  a  religion,  but  which,  of 
course,  does  not  pretend  to  foreshadow  a  future 
existence.  As  to  that  future  existence,  I  am 
certain  that  the  Archduke  Rudolph  believed  in 
none,  though  his  intimates  more  than  once  heard 
him  declare  that  he  would  willingly  have  gone 
back  to  the  unquestioning  beliefs  of  his  early 
years — the  inevitable  despair,  I  think,  of  most  men 


234  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

who  have  studied  the  history  of  human  thought 
and  action. 

Returning  to  the  question  of  the  Prince's  love 
of  the  chase,  I  may  say  that  he  indulged  in  sporting 
pursuits  for  just  such  reasons  as  induce  many  an 
Englishman  to  follow  hounds  or  range  the  moors 
— ^with  the  object,  namely,  of  keeping  in  good 
condition.  About  the  business  of  the  chase,  too, 
I  have  remarked,  in  German  countries,  a  certain 
amount  of  what  I  can  only  call  infantility  of 
procedure  and  action  and  nothing  like  sports- 
manly  regard  for  the  animal  which  affords  the 
fun — a  trait  which  many  English  game-hunters 
have  remarked  upon  at  parties  which  I  have 
attended.  In  an  excellent  English  magazine, 
the  Cornhilly  which  finds  much  vogue  in  our 
country,  I  once  read  an  article  dealing  with  deer- 
hunting  in  South  Germany,  and  as  it  records  in 
perfect  detail  the  programme  of  one  of  those 
excursions  in  the  properties  over  which  the  Arch- 
duke used  to  shoot,  I  here  reproduce  in  part,  as 
affording  English  readers  some  idea  of  our  sport- 
ing ways  : 

Rising  to  dress  by  candle-light,  peering  out 
into  the  darkness  to  discern  the  state  of  the 
weather,  snatching  a  hurried  and  imperfect  break- 
fast, driving  in  a  cramped  conveyance  along  a 
dull  white  road  between  long  and  silent  stretches 
of  forest,  with  the  damp,  grey  night-mist  still 
dragging  slowly  over  the  firs  and  with  the  cold 
barrels  of  a  gun  numbing  one's  fingers — such  are 


AT  THE  WHITE  EAGLE  235 

the  ordinary  preliminaries  to  a  day's  shooting  in 
German  countries.  When  the  hot  strong  sun 
of  the  south  gathers  up  these  mist-clouds  and 
sends  them  rolling  away  westward,  when  the  hills 
along  the  horizon  begin  to  show  themselves  of  a 
gloomy  green,  when  a  clearance  in  the  great  forest 
around  you  shows  a  large  many-windowed  wooden 
chalet  with  projecting  roof,  as  ruddy  in  its  deep 
brown  hues  as  any  hut  of  the  Swiss  valleys,  you 
are  led  to  expect  something  entirely  different 
from  the  steady,  business-like  and  rather  tame 
pursuit  of  partridges  which  generally  follows  the 
drive  to  cover  in  England.  A  hen  capercailzie, 
with  her  great  brown  wings  outstretched,  sails 
quickly  overhead  ;  a  fox  stands  quietly  in  an 
adjacent  field  and  watches  you  drive  past;  a 
blue  hare  flashes  across  the  road  and  disappears 
into  the  wood.  No ;  this  is  clearly  not  England. 
But  the  drive  over — what  then  ?  Another  of 
those  great  wooden  chalets  comes  into  view,  the 
strong  sunlight  making  its  rich  brown  gables 
almost  red,  and  there  are  people  walking  about 
and  vehicles  in  front  of  the  door,  and  over  the 
window  a  noble  painting  which  bears  the  legend 
"  Zum  Weiszen  Adler  " — At  the  sign  of  the  White 
Eagle.  Those  boys  outside  have  borrowed  a 
holiday  from  the  national  school  in  order  to  form 
a  corps  of  beaters,  and  they  are  already  receiving- 
jerky  and  half -grumbling  instructions  from  one 
of  the  Prince's  keepers — the  ancient,  phlegmatic, 
morose  and  picturesque  Schaller.  Imagine  a 
little  man  dressed  wholly  in  grey  and  green  with 


236  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

a  large  sloviched  hat  adorned  with  jay's  feathers,  a 
thin  brownish-white  face,  a  large  nose,  a  big  black 
moustache  and  small  deep-set  eyes,  a  horn  slung 
round  his  neck,  a  gun  pendent  from  one  shoulder 
and  a  cartridge  bag  of  roe-skin  hanging  from  the 
other.  He  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  experi- 
enced of  the  Prince's  keepers,  and  it  is  his  proud 
boast  that  he  is  the  only  one  whom  the  Prince 
addresses  as  "  Du."  The  other  keepers  are  inside 
in  the  spacious,  low-roofed,  eight-windowed  room 
which  is  the  chief  glory  of  each  small  hostelry  : 
and  through  the  haze  of  badly-smelling  tobacco- 
smoke,  we  can  dimly  discern  their  short,  brawny 
figures,  clad  in  the  same  picturesque  dress  which 
Schaller  wears,  though  for  the  most  part  they  have 
bushy  brown  beards  and  moustaches  on  their  sun- 
tanned faces. 

In  a  little  while  the  party  is  mustered  on  the 
road  outside.  The  Prince's  overseer  for  this  dis- 
trict, a  splendid  fellow  with  immense  shoulders  and 
arms,  leads  the  way,  attended  by  two  or  three 
sportsmen  who  have  been  included  in  the  invitation 
— each  one  in  gaiters,  decorated  stalker's  hat  and 
jacket,  with  horn,  pouch  and  dispatching-knife. 

"  Vorwarts,  alle  in  Gottes  Namen,"  shouts  our 
chief,  mindful  of  the  fact  that  hunting  has  its 
ritual.  Every  gun,  with  its  green  strap  afiixed, 
is  thrown  over  each  shoulder  and  we  all  stride 
forward. 

The  slight  wind  now  blows  in  the  direction  in 
which  we  are  marching  ;  it  is  necessary,  therefore, 
to  go  to  the  extreme  end  of  the  ground  to  be 


ROUTING  OUT  THE  ROE  237 

traversed  and  work  backward,  for  there  are  few 
animals  which  possess  so  intensely  keen  a  scent 
as  the  roe,  and  the  greatest  caution  has  to  be 
exercised  in  order  to  keep  to  leeward  of  them. 
In  some  districts  where  the  roe  lie  in  small  covers 
and  are  likely  to  be  scared  away  altogether  if 
driven  too  hard  by  dogs,  it  is  sufficient  to  send  in 
a  few  beaters  who  do  not  even  make  the  peculiar 
rattling  noise  with  which  they  ordinarily  arouse 
the  deer.  The  mere  scent  of  the  beaters  is  enough 
to  send  the  roe  on  lightly  towards  the  sportsman 
who,  in  such  a  case,  generally  gets  an  easy  shot. 
On  this  morning,  however,  we  were  plentifully 
provided  with  dogs — beagles,  with  heads  of  the 
usual  beagle  type  and  size,  little  body  and  no  legs 
to  speak  of,  but  merely  squat  stumps,  exceedingly 
thick  and  muscular,  with  large,  soft  outwardly- 
turned  paws.  These  animals  possess  the  merit 
of  working  slowly  and  steadily  and  never  tire 
and,  despite  their  apparent  limitations,  make 
their  way  through  the  mossy  swamps  and  the 
thick  bush  and  bracken  much  more  easily  than 
one  would  imagine.  The  Prince's  huge  black 
hound.  Hector,  invaluable  in  tracking  wounded 
deer,  is  the  only  dog  of  large  proportions  present. 

"  Gentlemen,"  cries  a  well-known  local  trapper 
and  huntsman,  who  acts  as  a  kind  of  master  of 
ceremonies,  "  whosoever  shoots  on  old  hare  shall 
be  fined  a  crown,  to  be  exacted  from  him  on  the 
spot.     Young  hares  you  may  shoot  as  you  please." 

This  speech  is  part  of  the  ritual — indeed,  a 
kind  of  joke  and  everybody  laughs  ;   although  we 


238  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

are  well  aware  that  not  only  are  we  forbidden  to 
shoot  the  doe,  but  also  capercailzie  and  foxes 
which  are  considered  good  shooting,  and  are 
rarely  hunted  in  German  forests,  their  principal 
role  in  life  being  the  destruction  of  young  roe  and 
the  despoiling  of  poultry-farms.  Suddenly  the 
party  comes  to  a  halt.  The  keepers  cluster 
round  the  local  sportsman,  or  master  of  cere- 
monies, who  gives  each  man  his  appointed  place 
and  instructions.  Schaller  draws  off  his  troop  of 
men,  boys  and  dogs,  and  disappears  into  the 
forest.  We  too  enter  the  thick  woods,  but  by  a 
different  bridle-path.  Here  there  is  no  under- 
wood ;  down  between  the  lichen  grey  stems  of 
the  magnificent  pines  and  firs,  the  sunlight  falls 
in  great  shafts  and  lights  up  the  soft,  springy 
green  moss  into  a  brilliant  orange  and  gold. 
Occasionally  we  cross  a  deep  glade  which  runs 
into  some  unseen  valley,  and  in  one  of  these 
glades  the  underwood  begins.  Our  posts  are 
assigned  us.  Li  all  such  battues  there  are  one 
or  two  stations  which  are  known  by  long  experi- 
ence to  be  the  best — the  preferable  of  these  two, 
called  the  Hauptplatz,  or  principal  place,  being 
generally  marked  with  the  initial  of  the  person 
who  is  considered  the  guest  of  honour.  On  the 
occasion  of  my  outing  with  the  guns,  I  found 
myself  assigned  to  a  post  behind  a  large  pine, 
about  twenty  yards  from  the  underwood  of  larch 
and  birch,  and  almost  opposite  two  deer-tracks 
which  converged  on  one  point.  Fortunately 
mine  was  not  the  Hauptplatz. 


THE  BEATERS  AT  WORK  239 

When  all  the  posts  have  been  filled,  each  man 
must  hold  up  his  hand,  thus  conveying  to  his 
next  neighbour  an  intimation  of  his  exact  position, 
a  duty  which  no  one  who  has  felt  a  charge  of 
shot  whiz  by  his  ear  will  ever  neglect.  Pre- 
sently we  heard  a  long  low  blast  from  the  horn 
of  the  keeper  who  was  at  the  extreme  end  of 
the  guns — a  message  to  Schaller  announcing  our 
readiness  for  action.  This  signal  was  replied  to 
by  a  fine  flourish  from  Schaller  himself,  and  it  is 
not  until  this  reply  is  given  that  the  guns  are 
supposed  to  be  on  the  alert.  Far  off  we  could 
hear  the  drivers  at  work,  striking  the  trees  with 
their  staves  and  uttering  a  loud  "  purr  "  that 
echoed  through  the  wood.  Then  with  a  joyful 
roar,  two  of  the  dogs  gave  tongue  and  the  sharp 
music  rang  through  the  stillness  of  the  wood,  but 
was  yet  far  distant,  the  sounds  becoming  fainter 
or  louder,  allowing  us  to  trace  the  course  of  the 
hoimds  as  they  worked  in  different  directions. 
Then  out  of  the  perfect  silence  of  the  tall  brush- 
wood leapt  a  beautiful  deer  in  a  shining  coat  of 
yellow-brown,  and  not  thirty  yards  away,  a 
handsome  buck  ;  but  both  escaped,  the  attention 
of  the  gun  on  the  Hauptplatz  being  temporarily 
diverted  —  much  to  my  satisfaction.  Hector, 
baying  and  rushing  like  a  fiend,  nosed  out  two 
does  and  a  little  fawn  hardly  much  longer  in  the 
body  than  a  hare.  The  first  doe  passed  through 
the  brushwood  like  a  flash  of  lightning ;  the 
second  one,  evidently  the  mother,  kept  by  its  side, 
and  both  came  so  near  to  me  that  I  could  have 


240  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

accounted  for  them  both  with  one  barreL  In  a 
short  time  the  sound  of  the  beaters  came  closer, 
the  boys  struggling  through  the  young  firs,  and 
a  flourish  of  the  horn  brought  us  together  in  one 
group.  My  account  of  the  way  in  which  I  had 
sacrificed  a  beautiful  pair  of  buck-horns  did 
not  appear  quite  satisfactory,  and  though,  of 
course,  no  complaint  was  uttered,  I  felt  that 
keepers  and  beaters  had  their  own  opinion  of  my 
sportsmanship . 

Our  next  effort  proved  a  blank  and  only  a  few 

doe  were  turned   out  by  hounds,  an  occasional 

fox    being    startled — forbidden    game,   however. 

A   third  beat  was  more  successful,  dogs  giving 

tongue  at  once  and  several  buck  fell  to  the  guns. 

The  drive  over,  up  walks  the  nearest  keeper  to 

the  fortunate  sportsman  and  offering  his  hand 

with  profuse  compliments  congratulates  him  on 

having  secured  a  splendid  pair  of  horns,  finishing 

this  ceremony  by  sticking  a  sprig  of  young  fir  in 

the  shooter's  hat — a  sprig  for  every  buck  that 

Jias  fallen  to  his  gun.     Again,  we  plunged  into 

the  forest  for  a  fourth  drive,  an  unusually  long 

one,  and  a  considerable  time  elapsed  before  the 

horn  announced  the  setting  of  the  guns.     In  the 

interval   which    ensued    between   the   answering 

flourish  of  the  horn  a  splendid  buck  was  seen 

passing  rapidly  along  our  front,   making  for  a 

mass  of  young  trees  which  must  certainly  allow 

him  to  escape.     Giving  him  a  single  barrel,   I 

failed  to  stop  his  progress,  and  fired  the  second 

as  he  broke  into  the   brushwood.     Presently  I 


THE  HOMEWARD  MARCH  241 

heard  a  long,  deep  groan  and  fearing  to  leave  my 
post  in  case  a  charge  of  shot  should  come  rattling 
round  my  ears,  I  re-loaded  just  in  time  to  catch 
a  doe  hunted  by  Hector,  and  by  bringing  the 
animal  down  at  least  saved  my  reputation.  As 
the  keepers  approached  to  congratulate  me,  a 
loud  whirring  noise  overhead  attracted  my 
attention.  It  was  a  fine  cock-capercailzie  and  I 
had  the  satisfaction  of  tumbling  it  down  at  the 
feet  of  the  occupant  of  the  Hauptplatz,  who  in  his 
own  kindly  way  congratulated  me  on  having 
done  my  humble  share  of  justice  to  his  preserves. 
The  return  homewards  was  in  the  nature  of 
a  procession,  the  whole  party  marching  along  the 
winding  roadway  to  the  Lodge,  boys  in  front 
carrying  the  various  heads  which  had  fallen  to 
the  guns  and  occasionally  breaking  into  the  local 
hunting-songs,  one  of  which  still  haunts  my  ears  : 

Im  Wald  und  auf  der  Haide 
Da  such'  ich  meine  Freude 

Ich  bin  ein  J^ger's  Mann, 

Ich  bin  ein  Jager's  Mann. 
Den  Wald  und  Forst  zu  hegen 
Das  Wildpret  zu  erlegen, 

Das  ist's  was  mir  gefallt, 

Das  ist's  was  mir  gefallt 
Halli,  hallo,  halli,  hallo,  halalli. 

Das  ist's  was  mir  gefallt  > 

Halli,  hallo,  halalli ! 
Halli,  hallo,  halalli. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Prince  Rudolph's  alleged  Suicidal  Mania — The  Philosophy  of 
Suicides — Pessimists  and  Optimists — Napoleon's  Ideas  on 
Suicide  those  of  the  Archduke— Reasons  against  the  Theory  of 
Prince  Rudolph's  Suicide — 26th  January  i88g — The  Archduke's 
Ideas  about  German  Actors  and  the  Theatre  in  General — 
"Elemental  Men  and  Simians" — An  Improvised  Comedy — 
The  Archduke  as  Stage  Napoleon — Bismarck  and  Playgoers 
—  Ideas  about  Music  —  "Cleverly  harmonised  Rumpus"  — 
Wagner's  Hypnotic  Powders — A  Theory  of  Success  in  Life — 
Wagner  and  the  Artistic  Temperament — Archducal  Ideas  on 
Painting  and  Literature — A  Visit  to  the  Rubens  Gallery — Art 
and  a  Physiological  Question 

Writers  who  have  touched  circumstantially  on 
the  short  if  somewhat  complex  annals  of  the  life 
of  the  Archduke  Rudolph  seem  to  agree  in  the 
view  that  from  earliest  manhood  the  idea  of 
suicide  was  constantly  present  to  his  mind.  They 
emphasise  the  fact  all  the  more  firmly  because  of 
the  alleged  self-murder  of  his  blood-kinsman. 
King  Ludwig  of  Bavaria,  in  1886,  and  again  on  the 
ground  that  in  all  the  members  of  the  Wittelsbach 
family  there  ran  a  potent  strain  of  eccentricity 
which  was  hardly  differentiable  from  impulsive 
insanity.  The  Archduke  was,  therefore,  they 
argue,  predisposed,  by  hereditary  influences,  to 
those  maniacal  ideas  which  often  culminate  in 
self-destruction.  Acute  eccentricity  was,  they 
conclude,  not  less  marked  in  himself  than  in  other 
members  of  his  family,  and  his  method  of  life 

242 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  SUICIDES         243 

pointed  to  the  probability  of  a  violent  end.  All 
which  views  are,  I  may  say,  those  of  observers 
from  the  distant  outside. 

My  role  shall  certainly  not  be  that  of  the 
peisithanatos,  or  counsellor  of  death,  as  the 
Greeks  called  a  certain  philosophic  pundit  who 
advocated  suicide  as  the  easiest  solution  of  the 
misery  of  being  alive.  Nevertheless,  I  maintain 
that  such  a  philosophy  was  not  entirely  without 
some  reasonable  foundation  of  its  own,  and,  in  my 
opinion,  few  men  can  reflect  seriously  on  the 
ponderable  advantages  and  values  which  even  the 
lengthiest  and  most  successful  life  can  offer,  and 
— if  they  possess  a  humour-sense,  a  proportion- 
sense  and,  above  all,  a  time-sense — not  turn  with 
despair  from  the  abysmal  inanity  of  the  prospect 
offered  to  the  candidate  for,  say,  a  seventy-year 
span  of  life.  In  another  place  I  have  expressed  the 
view  that  plodding  pessimists  really  rule  the  world, 
and,  indeed,  hope  to  be  gathered  to  a  vaster  void 
strong  in  that  pious  belief.  So-called  optimism, 
or  delight  in  this  best  of  all  possible  worlds,  is  not 
only  the  philosophy  of  the  impossibly  philosophic  ; 
it  is  also  the  cloak  with  which  frank  and  logical 
enough  Philistines  seek  either  to  hide  from  the 
world  their  own  villainies,  or  from  themselves  and 
others,  the  villainies  of  which  they  are  the  victims. 

Certainly,  I  admit,  I  often  heard  my  master 
discuss  the  question  of  suicide,  and  if  I  was  not 
positive  that  his  sense  of  duty  to  his  own  august 
House,  as  well  as  to  his  Fatherland,  was  not  as 
strong  as  that  which  is  the  first  great  unquestionable 


244  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

characteristic  of  his  father,  Kaiser  Franz,  I  should 
incline  to  the  view  that  he  was  of  the  type  of 
philosopher  who  is  capable  of  self-annihilation  in 
order — for  all  Hamlet's  doubts  upon  the  subject 
— to  release  himself  from  the  consciousness  of 
being  alive.  Men  who  knew  him  will  remember 
well  a  phrase  of  Napoleon's  which  was  often  on  his 
lips  :  "  II  faut  vouloir  vivre  et  savoir  mourir — we 
must  will  to  live  and  know  how  to  die  "  ;  a  phil- 
osophy in  this  matter  which  the  great  soldier  acted 
up  to,  even  as  he  did  in  the  matter  of  religion, 
solely  for  considerations  connected  with  the 
dynasty  he  had  founded — my  own  view,  of  course. 
Again,  however,  I  have  to  say  that  Prince  Rudolph 
followed  the  French  Emperor's  reasoning  in 
another  phase  of  the  question. 

The  Corsican,  it  will  be  remembered,  held  that 
if  life  became  a  burden,  either  physically  or 
psychically,  to  any  man,  he  was  justified  in  self- 
destruction,  providing — Napoleon  emphasised  the 
condition — that  his  suicide  caused  no  detriment  to 
others,  and  that  its  motive  was  not  to  release  the 
suicide  from  heavy  obligations  to  himself,  to  his 
relatives,  or  to  his  country.  If,  however,  added 
the  Corsican,  a  man  be  moved  to  the  act  of  despair 
simply  because  Fortune  appears  to  have  deserted 
him,  he  at  any  rate  refused  to  condone  suicide,  and 
on  the  ground  that  ever-changeful  Fortune,  which 
frowns  to-day,  is  quite  as  likely  to  smile  to-morrow. 
Had  his  attachment  to  his  country  and  its  fortunes 
been  a  less  salient  trait  in  my  master ;  had  the 
succession  been  so  established  as  to  assure  the  best 


OUR  LAST  SYMPOSIUM  245 

interests  of  Austria -Hungary  remaining  stable 
and  hopeful ;  had  the  Archducal  menage  been  a 
source  of  fretfulness  to  him,  or  even  had  his 
health  of  mind  and  body  suggested  anj^hing 
like  life-weariness,  then  I  might  have  admitted 
a  strong  presumption  for  the  view  that  he  had 
premeditated  self-destruction.  None  of  the  above 
conditions,  however,  pointed  any  way  but  in  his 
favour,  and,  given  his  gay  demeanour  and  aban- 
don on  the  last  evening  on  which  he  met  his  per- 
sonal coterie,  the  tragedy  of  Meyerling,  to  those 
who  were  with  him  in  that  final  symposium, 
came  with  a  shock  that  well-nigh  unseated  reason 
itself. 

It  was  on  the  night  of  26th  January  1889  that 
a  few  of  his  more  favoured  personal  friends  met 
him  for  the  last  time  at  the  Hofburg.     The  hour, 
for  ordinary  persons,  was  late,  and  the  Archduke 
had  returned  from  the  theatre,  of  which  form  of 
entertainment,   if    light   opera    be   excepted,   he 
was  no  very  strict  devotee.     Indeed,  it  became 
with  him  a  commonplace  vow,  which  in  the  end 
we  all  came  to  look  upon  as  a  jest,  that  he  would 
attend  no  more  theatrical   representations.     My 
countrymen,  particularly  those  of  the  capital,  are 
hardened    enough   theatre-goers,  and   the   Arch- 
duke's indifference  to  the  drama  was  a  trait  which, 
if  it  did  not  offend,  at  least  puzzled  most  of  his 
intimates.     To  myself,  however,  it  appeared  to 
indicate  the  essential  seriousness  of  his  character, 
for  though   I  am   a   willing   spectator  of    well- 
enacted  dramatic  pieces,  I  am  no  believer  in  the 


246  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

theory  that  there  is  anything  like  serious  educative 
principle  underlying  the  art  of  the  stage. 

Prince  Rudolph,  moreover,  often  gave  utter- 
ance to  the  sentiment  that  he  found  it  hard  to 
understand  in  Napoleon  the  extraordinary  interest 
which  that  wonderful  intellect  displayed  in  the 
drama — he  the  greatest  and  most  real  of  all  the 
genuine  enactors  of  the  world's  history,  as  he  used 
to  declare. 

"  I  divide  men,"  he  said,  on  this  night,  "  into 
two  categories — elemental  men  and  simians,  and 
of  all  the  sorry  simians  of  creation,  the  stage- 
actor  is  the  most  ridiculous  and  most  tragical, 
since  he  must  be  essentially  wanting  in  the  first 
characteristic  of  intellectual  worth,  namely, 
reasoned  self -consciousness.  Enacting  to-day  the 
role  of  a  statesman,  to-morrow  that  of  a  soldier, 
the  day  after  the  part  of  a  Scapin — bah,  what 
possible  fixity  of  character  can  such  beings  possess, 
and  what  claim  can  characterless  creatures  of 
this  kind  reasonably  advance  to  teach  the  public 
how  a  Richelieu,  a  Cromwell,  a  Caesar  thought,  or 
looked,  or  acted  in  the  various  crises  of  their  lives  ? 
I  have  seen  Napoleon  depicted  on  the  stage  and 
anything  more  denature  and  unlike  the  intensely 
elemental  and  natural  figure  of  the  somewhat 
bourgeois  Corsican  I  could  not  imagine.  Do  I, 
does  any  educated  person,  require  an  inferior 
mind  to  represent  to  me  the  real  Caesar  whom  I 
can  re-construct  for  myself  from  authentic  history, 
or  a  Hamlet  whom  only  a  philosophic  mind  can 
conjure  up  ?     Scapin,  yes  and  all  the  comedy  of 


A  SENSE  OF  COMEDY  247 

Moliere — actors  who  can  make  us  forget  that  we 
exist ;  or  women  on  the  stage — yes,  here  we  are 
on  safe  ground,  for  it  is  woman's  right  to  display 
her  charms  and  petits  talents  as  pubhcly  as  possible. 
And  I  will  always  make  an  exception,  too,  for 
singers  of  both  sexes,  for  here  it  is  possible  to 
establish  a  standard,  and  the  gift  of  great  song  is 
assuredly  a  divine  gift.  But  to  witness  the  effort 
of  a  skinny  mummer  trying  to  depict  a  Cromwell 
or  a  Napoleon — yes,  especially  Bonaparte — oh, 
heaven  protect  us  !  " 

The  Archduke  possessed  a  sense  of  comedy 
which  was  extremely  amusing  when  he  cared  to 
exercise  it  in  imitating  the  ludicrous  solemnities 
and  ponderous  attitudes  of  personages  with  whom 
he  came  at  times  in  contact.  To  see  the  great 
and  serious  unbend  in  this  way  is  not  only  very 
charming,  but  can  also  be  excruciatingly  funny, 
and  Bismarck,  to  my  own  knowledge,  was  also 
eminently  successful  in  amusing  his  favourites 
with  this  form  of  social  entertainment.  The 
Archduke's  imitation  of  the  stage -Bonaparte  was 
exceptionally  good  :  the  Corsican  embracing  his 
Empress — with  a  scowl ;  or  ordering  Constant  to 
bring  the  historic  hat — with  arms  folded,  shoulders 
raised  and  a  satanic  chin  buried  in  his  breast ; 
or  giving  simple  instructions  to  an  aide-de-camp 
— hands  clasped  behind  the  hips  and  an  eye  to 
make  a  centaur  quail ;  or  dictating  to  Bourrienne 
— his  face  pale  with  anger  and  his  gestures  full 
of  fury.  I  have  never  seen  Napoleon  repre- 
sented on  the  stage,  and  if  this  be  the  Corsican 


248  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

of  drama,  have  no  desire   to   experience  a  dis- 
illusionment. 

"  But,"  objected  Neumann,  "  the  German  is 
not  a  natural  actor,  and  your  Highness  knows 
what  Bismarck  says  of  the  serious  German  drama  : 
the  upper  orders  go  in  order  to  learn  how  not  to 
act  in  their  own  lives  ;  the  educated  orders  go  to 
ridicule  ;  while  the  lower  order  goes  only  to  see 
the  other  two." 

"  Nevertheless,"  replied  the  Prince,  "  bad 
drama  gives  the  public  an  entirely  false  conception 
of  history,  and  worse  still  a  false  idea  of  the  classes 
which  rule  them.  You  quote  Bismarck  ;  he  has 
also  said,  you  remember,  that  a  nation  which 
cannot  produce  good  actors  cannot  produce  good 
diplomatists.  And  there  I  am  in  entire  agreement 
with  him." 

By  an  easy  transition  the  conversation  passed 
to  a  discussion  of  other  departments  of  art,  about 
which  none  of  us  was  at  all  enthusiastic,  I  may 
say.  In  music — for  which  I  have  myself  little 
ear — the  Archduke's  taste  inclined  mainly  to  the 
Hungarian  type,  although  he  called  Beethoven, 
and  I  am  told,  called  him  correctly,  the  greatest 
of  all  composers.  Wagnerian  music  he  once  de- 
clared to  be  "  cleverly  harmonised  rumpus,"  and 
on  this  particular  night  he  repeated  the  expression, 
adding  that  the  devotees  of  Wagner  were  for  the 
most  part  the  victims  of  a  self-delusion  based  on 
suggestion. 

"  The  career  of  a  charlatan  like  Wagner,"  said 
the  Prince,  "  almost  supplies  me  with  a  new  theory 


THE  WAGNERIAN  IDEA  249 

of  success  in  life.  Wagner,  it  seems  clear  enough, 
possesses  in  a  powerful  degree  the  gift  of  hypno- 
tising his  own  circle  of  intimates — most  of  whom, 
you  know,  are  men  of  influence  in  literary  and 
journalistic  circles.  Well,  now,  when  Doctor 
Wagner  composes,  let  us  suppose,  an  especially 
uproarious  phase  of  music,  he  invites  his  friends 
to  hear  him  play  it  over.  He  plays  it  over  and 
they  listen.  '  That,'  says  the  Doctor  impressively, 
*  represents  a  blizzard  in  the  Alps  ' ;  and  Wagner 
has  that  especial  kind  of  mental  influence  which 
easily  imposes  on  men  of  the  satellite  temperament, 
including  a  gift  of  words  and  imagery  by  which  he 
easily  seduces  the  minds  of  his  friends  into  an 
acceptance  of  his  claims  and  explanations.  Ac- 
cordingly, his  circle  of  intimates,  self-hypnotised 
with  the  belief  that  they  are  in  the  presence  of  the 
wonderful,  make  haste — as  much  in  their  own  as 
in  their  patron's  interest,  be  it  understood — to 
make  known  to  the  world  the  fact  that  the  Doctor's 
genius  has  broken  out  in  a  fresh  place." 

"  Oh,  but  I  beg  of  your  Highness,"  deprecatingly 
said  Hoyos,  "  to  remember  that  the  modern 
world  is  divided  into  men,  women  and  Wagnerites. 
Hypnotism — yes,  I  grant  its  influence.  But 
hypnotism  that  breaks  up  families,  that  splits  the 
hemispheres,  that  affects  to  provide  the  measure 
of  good  taste  and  bad  taste — oh,  I  give  it  up." 

"  My  poor  Hoyos,"  returned  the  Archduke,  with 
affected  concern  for  the  Chamberlain,  "  all  this  is 
the  theory  of  success  in  life  to  which  I  am  coming. 
What,  for  instance,  is  the  end  of  life  ?     Why,  self- 


250  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

expression  ;  and  the  man  who  expresses  himself 
most  forcefully  is  the  man  who  goes  farthest.  In 
politics,  in  literature,  in  journalism,  in  religion, 
in  business — every  man  who  succeeds  has  done  so 
by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  he  has  made  himself 
the  centre  of  a  circle  all  the  other  members  of 
which  diffuse  his  ideas  centrifugal-fashion.  Do 
you  remember,  gentlemen,  that  Napoleon  in- 
vented a  theory  in  war  that  '  one  should  never 
manoeuvre  save  round  a  fixed  point — il  ne  faut 
manoeuvrer  qu'autour  d^une  pointe  fixe '  ?  Well, 
here  you  have  the  real  strategy  of  life  which  has 
been  practised  in  all  ages  by  those  who  possessed 
ambition  and  the  ability  to  impose  their  ideas  on 
men  who  were  content  to  play  subsidiary  roles 
and  carry  out  the  ideas  involved.  It  is  the  theory 
on  which  task-industry  is  founded,  and  never  fails 
to  produce  results.  Some  of  these  ideas  are 
sound,  others  unsound  ;  but  the  strategy  works 
in  all  cases,  given  the  organisation,  and  in  the 
case  of  social  movements  and  religious  sects  which 
spring  up  mushroom-wise  day  by  day,  this  is 
certainly  the  principle  at  work — a  question  of  one 
central  influence  and  submission  on  the  part  of 
the  satellites.  Voyons  done,  it  is  the  atomic  idea 
— ^the  principle  of  our  own  universe.  Are  we  not 
children  of  the  Sun  ?  " 

"Accordingly,  then,"  said  the  Baron,  with,  I 
thought,  some  want  of  tact,  "  your  Highness 
would  say  that  real  ability  does  not  rule  the  world 
— or  rarely  ;  for  what  man  of  real  and  originating 
ability  consents  to  be  a  satellite  ?  " 


THE  TEMPERAMENTALISTS        251 


"  That  is  entirely  the  view,  my  dear  Neumann 
returned  the  Prince  ;  "  real  ability  sometimes 
rules  the  affairs  of  men,  but  certainly  not  always. 
It  is  largely  a  question  of  hypnotising  others  into 
a  belief  in  an  idea  and  yourself.  If  Archimedes 
had  been  a  politician  instead  of  a  mathematician, 
he  would  have  asked  for  an  idea,  not  a  lever.  And 
this  accounts,  too,  for  Napoleon's  hatred  of  what 
he  called  the  ideologue.  Every  clever  man  with  a 
fixed  idea  was  a  menace  to  the  system  of  which  the 
Corsican  was  the  central  sun." 

"  And  Wagner,"  said  Hoyos,  who  was  musically 
disposed,  "  is  then  to  be  accounted  among  the 
disseminators  of  unsound  notions  ?  " 

"  So  far  as  myself  is  concerned — certainly, 
Hoyos,"  replied  the  Archduke,  "  though  I  am  not 
a  great  musician,  as  you  know.  His  appeal  is  not 
necessarily  made  to  artists,  although  many,  I 
believe,  have  given  him  their  adherence.  I  should 
say  rather  that  he  finds  his  suffrages  mainly  among 
those  who  possess  what  they  claim  to  be  the  artistic 
temperament.  I  have  met  many  sane  artists,  but 
I  have  never  yet  met  one  of  them  boast  of  the 
possession  of  the  artistic  temperament.  That 
seems  to  be  the  privilege  of  non-performers  or 
non -executants  who  wish  to  advertise  to  properly 
self-possessed  people  that,  under  the  influence  of, 
say,  a  picture  of  which  they  do  not  understand 
the  technique,  or  of  music  which  only  titivates 
their  spinal  cords,  their  emotions  become  too 
powerful  for  their  self-restraint.  I  have  watched 
these  animals  at  the  Opera.     They  remind  me 


5J  ' 

I 


252  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

of  old  virgins  who  have  decided  not  to  die 
guessing." 

There  was,  in  my  opinion,  too  much  of  the  soldier- 
statesman  in  the  Archduke  Rudolph  to  permit 
of  anything  like  dilettantism,  and,  indeed,  I  think 
that  Political  Economy,  History  and  Labour 
questions  interested  him  far  more  than  any  other 
study  except  Ornithology,  in  which  he  was  a 
notable  expert  among  experts.  Accordingly  when 
at  our  last  symposium  we  turned  on  the  question 
of  Painting,  it  was  not  surprising  to  find — ^as  I 
had  long  known,  of  course — that  in  the  matter 
of  the  various  Schools  he  was  hardly  much  better 
informed  than  myself,  his  tastes  leaning  mainly 
to  art -work,  which  made  a  direct  appeal  to  his 
historical  sense  or  to  his  sense  of  physical  beauty 
as  shown  in  portraiture. 

"  Li  Art  I  find  hardly  less  affectation,"  he  said, 
"  than  in  Music  and  Literature.  Of  Music  I 
know  very  little,  and  in  German  Literature  I  will 
follow  Prince  Bismarck  to  the  extent  of  making 
anyone  who  asks  a  present  of  three-fourths  of  all 
that  Goethe  has  written  and  still  undertake  to 
possess  all  Goethe — the  real  Goethe.  Shakespeare 
and  Moliere  contain  the  whole  conspectus  of  life 
for  myself,  and  if  I  want  genre  life  I  can  find  it  in 
Jokai  or  in  Henri  Conscience  the  Fleming.  In  Art, 
Meissonier  suits  my  historical  sense,  and  in  por- 
traiture Sarto.  The  sombre  tints  of  the  Roman 
and  Bolognese  schools  attract  me  in  preference 
to  the  vivid  colouring  of  the  Venetian  artists,  and 
though  the  Crown  Princess  preaches  Rubens  to  me 


ART  AND  POTOCKI  253 

as  a  kind  of  religion,  I  cannot  accept  his  types. 
And  this  reminds  me,"  he  added  gaily,  "  of  a  visit 
I  once  paid  to  Antwerp  to  the  Rubens  Gallery  in 
that  city  with  Arthur  Potocki.  It  was  during  a 
family  visit  to  Brussels  that  the  Archduchess 
suggested  my  renewing  acquaintance  with  the 
Flemish  painter,  and  perhaps  correcting  my 
vicious  taste,  as  Her  Highness  put  it.  Accordingly 
Potocki  and  myself  made  our  way  to  Antwerp, 
and  though  neither  of  us  was  especially  interested 
we  decided  to  visit  the  Gallery  out  of  regard  for 
the  wishes  of  the  Archduchess. 

"  At  the  Rubens  Gallery,  as  you  probably  will 
know,  there  is  a  famous  triptych  the  wing-pictures 
of  which  represent  Adam  to  the  left,  Eve  to  the 
right — life-size  figures  in  the  tout  ensemble,  and 
in  the  course  of  our  progress  through  the  great 
galleries  we  duly  arrived  in  front  of  the  triptych, 
where  I  was  to  hear,  as  it  happened,  one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  comments  yet  made  on  the 
pictorial  art,  and,  of  all  men,  from  Arthur  Potocki, 
who  knows  less  than  I  do  myself  about  such 
matters.  In  those  days  Potocki  wore  a  monocle, 
and  on  arriving  in  front  of  our  triptych  he  ad- 
justed the  eyeglass  and  began  to  study  the  nude 
figures  of  both  Adam  and  Eve  in  an  unusually 
fixed  and  studious  way — so  fixedly  and  studi- 
ously, indeed,  and  with  such  obvious  ostentatious- 
ness,  that  I  was  moved  by  curiosity  to  watch  him. 
He  paid  no  heed  to  myself,  however,  but  continued 
to  gaze  at  each  figure,  walking  now  to  one  and  then 
to  the  other,  indulging  at  the  same  time  in  a  little 


254  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

snuffling  kind  of  laugh  for  which  I  could  not 
account,  and  which  I  considered  very  unseemly. 
I  wished  to  continue  our  progress,  and  suggested 
that  we  should  move  on,  and,  as  he  appeared  not 
to  hear  me,  did  so  myself.  When  about  ten  yards 
away  from  him,  I  turned  round,  only  to  behold 
him  still  gazing  with  profound  fascination  at  the 
figures  in  the  triptych.  As  visitors  were  also 
beginning  to  note  his  attitude,  I  returned  to  him 
and  again  suggested  that  we  should  continue  our 
progress.     For  answ^er  he  pointed  to  the  figures. 

"  '  That  is  Adam  there,  is  it  not  ?  '  he  asked 
vacantly.  '  And  of  course  this  is  Eve  ?  Wonder- 
ful, wonderful ! ' 

"  '  Come,  Potocki,  you  are  making  yourself 
ridiculous,'  I  protested  ;  '  and  people  are  beginning 
to  stare.     Let  us  continue.' 

"'Well,'  he  replied,  'all  that  may  be  very 
good  Art,  for  what  I  know.  But  it's  very  bad 
physiology.' 

"  '  Lideed  !  '  I  rejoined,  somewhat  irritably. 
'  Perhaps  you  will  be  good  enough  to  explain  how.' 

"  '  Why,  your  Highness,'  he  replied,  '  if  these 
figures  represent  Adam  and  Eve,  why,  in  the  name 
of  all  that's  wonderful,  were  they  painted  with 
navels  ?     Where  the  devil  did  they  get  navels  ?  ' 

"  Which  went  to  show  that  Potocki  was  at 
least  a  good  pre-Raphaelite,"  added  the  Prince. 

The  Archduke  bade  us  good-bye  towards  the 
early  morning  hours.  This  was  the  last  occasion 
on  which  I  saw  my  master  alive  and  touched  his 
hand. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

The  Crown  Lands  of  Baden — The  Schloss  of  Meyerling — Formerly 
a  Cistercian  Convent — ^The  Archducal  Apartments — Late  Hours 
at  the  Lodge — A  Message  from  His  Highness — A  Visit  to  the 
Hofburg  Library — I  meet  Wolfram — Decide  on  a  Sojourn  at 
Heiligen  Kreuz — A  Rencontre  at  the  Southern  Station — Another 
Surprise  at  Baden — A  Walk  to  Heiligen  Kreuz — Herr  Wirt  of  the 
Gasthaus — His  Archducal  Visitor — A  Bottle  of  Tokay — A  Rough 
Quartette  of  Prussians — My  Landlord's  Recollections— The 
Witch  of  Alland— A  Prophecy  to  Kaiser  Franz — My  Servant 
fails  me — Only  appears  at  Breakfast-time — His  Adventures  in 
the  Night — The  Road  to  Meyerling  and  back  to  the  Kreuz 

Baden  lies  about  twenty  miles  to  the  south  of 
Vienna,  and  consists  for  the  most  part  of  Imperial 
Crown  lands,  with  princely  establishments  and 
appurtenances  of  the  Habsburg  family — castles 
occupied  mainly  by  members  of  the  grand  arch- 
ducal family  whose  number  is  large.  To  the 
west  of  Baden,  running  in  a  northerly  direction 
through  a  thickly  w^ooded  district  of  highland 
and  vale,  are  the  village-towns  of  Heiligen  Kreuz 
or  Holy  Cross,  and  Alland.  Beyond  these,  and 
at  a  distance  of  about  fourteen  miles  from  Baden, 
is  Meyerling,  lying  in  a  valley,  a  most  romantic 
spot,  the  inhabitants  of  which  number  not  more 
than  one  hundred  people.  Approaching  the 
hamlet  by  the  high  road  and  before  descending 
into  the  vale,  the  first  important  object  on  the 
landscape  is  the  Schloss,  which  stands  on  the  only 
eminence  within  the  narrow  radius.     The  Schloss 

255 


256  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

of  Meyerling  has  nothing  particularly  princely 
in  its  aspect  and  consists  of  several  straggling 
houses  with  round  and  pointed  towers,  the  build- 
ings a  washy  white,  according  to  the  mountain 
fashion  and  altogether  suggesting  the  residence 
of  a  prosperous  minor  squire  or  retired  Viennese 
business  man.  A  deer  park  of  generous  extent 
encircles  the  Castle,  timbered  mainly  with  pine 
or  spruce,  and  sloping  to  the  several  roads  which 
cut  the  main  highway,  south  and  south-west, 
at  sharp  angles,  the  whole  estate  being  enclosed 
by  a  wall  some  miles  in  circumference. 

Whether  or  not  the  Schloss  was  the  private 
purchase  of  the  Archduke,  or  whether  it  belonged 
to  the  Imperial  Crown,  I  am  now  unable  to 
recollect.  I  know,  however,  that  in  the  years 
of  my  association  with  His  Highness  at  least 
one  building  was  added  to  the  five  which  already 
composed  the  entire  Castle.  A  melancholy, 
indeed,  an  eerie  and  forbidding  spot — it  was  said 
formerly  to  have  been  the  site  of  a  Cistercian 
society  of  monks,  and  since  the  tragedy  of  1889 
it  has  become  the  home  of  a  sisterhood  of  Trappist 
nuns  who  daily  offer  up  expiatory  prayers  for 
the  crime  that  removed  Rudolph  of  Habsburg. 
When  the  Cistercian  body  owned  the  place  I 
do  not  know,  but  recollect  to  have  heard  that  the 
old  ex-Emperor  Ferdinand  I.  had  once  expressed 
an  intention,  towards  the  end  of  his  life,  of  retiring 
into  the  brotherhood  which  then  occupied  the 
Schloss.  Apart  from  the  melancholy  aspect  of 
the  property,  which  is,  moreover,  a  characteristic 


THE  HUNTING-LODGE  257 

of  most  of  the  mountain  estates  of  Lower  Austria, 
Meyerling  was  a  shooting  lodge  typical  of  the 
country,  and  the  Archduke  preferred  it  to  any 
of  the  several  more  splendid  boxes  which  lay 
within  a  radius  of  thirty  miles,  and  which,  as 
Crown  property,  were  always  at  his  disposal. 

The  central  dwelling  was  that  occupied  by 
Prince  Rudolph,  and  consisted  of  the  usual  pieces, 
mostly  broad  and  large  rooms,  though  not  lofty. 
There  was  a  distinctly  sporting  suggestion,  not 
unmixed  with  some  fleeting  idea  of  a  farmhouse, 
or  a  trainer's  residence,  about  the  place,  and  if 
melancholy  was  the  tone  of  the  outside,  a  homely 
cheeriness  was  certainly  that  of  the  interior, 
w^hile  the  simplicity  of  the  entire  Schloss  was 
thoroughly  in  harmony  with  that  marked  un- 
affectedness  which  is  salient  in  the  Habsburg 
family,  and  which  trait,  indeed,  I  have  found  to 
be  characteristic  in  the  really  high-placed  in  any 
country  I  am  acquainted  wdth.  On  the  ground 
floor,  and  looking  out  upon  the  south-west  portion 
of  the  estate,  was  the  Archduke's  unusually  large 
sleeping-chamber — a  hall  rather  than  a  room, 
and  covered  with  heavily  mounted  sporting 
trophies  of  a  hundred  kinds.  It  had  two  large 
and  lofty  windows,  shuttered,  Tyrolese-fashion, 
from  the  outside,  and  between  these  windows, 
some  twenty  feet  apart,  was  the  broad  oaken 
bedstead,  four-posted  and  testered,  but  un- 
tapestried.  At  the  north  extremity  of  this 
chamber  was  a  small  study  with  one  spacious 
window.     To  the  right  and  left  of  the  corridor 

R 


258  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

from  which  the  Archduke's  private  apartment 
opened,  were  dining  and  reception  halls,  as  well 
as  the  offices  of  the  steward,  Loschek,  who 
occasionally  acted  as  body-servant  to  the  Arch- 
duke in  Vienna. 

This   central   dwelling   was,   I   may  add,   the 
quietest  of  the  group  of  houses  which  formed  the 
Schloss,  since  it  was  occupied  only  by  the  Arch- 
duke, or  by  a  possible  guest,  also  by  the  steward, 
and  was  distant  from  the  noise  and  bustle  asso- 
ciated with  the  work  of  country  establishments. 
The  entire  Castle  and  its  various  buildings  were 
connected   by  a   series  of  large  and   much  be- 
trophied  halls.     The  stabling  and  the  harness- 
rooms  were  at  the  north  of  the  Schloss,  where 
never  more  than  a  dozen  horses  were  stalled  at 
any  time.     The  Archducal  parties  rarely  exceeded 
half-a-dozen  guns  ;   sporting  began  usually  about 
seven   or  half-past  seven   in  the  morning,  and 
though  his  hours  were  more  frequently  on  the 
irregular    than    on    the    regular    side — for    the 
exchange  of  ideas  was  the  passion  of  his  life,  and 
he  talked  till  all  hours— the  Prince  was  invariably 
the  first  to  welcome  his  guests,  and  rarely  missed 
the  opportunity  of  a   good  morning's  sport — a 
fact  to  which  he  attributed  his  splendid  powers 
of  recuperation,  for,  as  I  have  told  before,  my 
master  hved  his  life  to  the  very  full. 

***** 
Having,  on  the  night  of  our  last  symposium 
with  the  Archduke,  said  farewell  to  His  Highness, 
I  returned,  since  I  was  on  leave,  to  my  apartment 


A  NOTE  FROM  THE  PRINCE        259 

by  the  Hofgarten,  where  my  man,  Conrad  Bratfisch, 
held  the  fort,  as,  humorous  hind,  he  was  himself 
accustomed    to    tell    me.     The    morrow    being 
Sunday,  I  rose  late,  and  in  the  early  afternoon, 
trained  to  Wagram,  where  lived,  in  villa  retirement, 
an  old  Canon  of  St  Stephen's,  a  distant  kinsman, 
with  whom  I  very  occasionally  passed  an  evening 
in  pleasant  conversation.     Returning  about  mid- 
night, I  retired  immediately,  nor  woke  till  Conrad 
brought  me  a  cup  of  coffee  and  the  time — nearly 
ten,  an  unusually  late  hour  for  myself,  an  early 
riser.     About  noon  on  Monday  two  letters  arrived 
simultaneously,   one  by  special  messenger  from 
the  Hofburg — his  cousin  Joseph  Bratfisch,  as  my 
man  at  once  informed  me,  for  the  Archduke  was 
accustomed  to  call  upon  the  immediate  services 
of  any  favourite  attendant  who  happened  to  be 
at  hand.     Taking  the  two  letters,  I  immediately 
proceeded  to  read  that  which  I  easily  recognised 
by  the  cachet  and  handwriting  to  be  my  master's, 
carelessly  allowing  the  second  letter  to  lose  itself 
upon  the  table,  which  was  already  littered  with 
papers  and  documents. 

The  contents  of  the  Archduke's  were  short  and 
to  the  point ;  he  had  decided  not  to  spend  Monday 
in  town,  but  was  proceeding  that  afternoon  to 
Meyerling.  I  was  instructed  to  procure  several 
manuscripts  from  the  Hofburg  Library,  dealing 
with  literary  work  in  which  the  Prince  was  then 
interested,  and  forward  them  on  the  morrow,  by 
special  messenger,  to  Meyerling.  The  Hofburg 
Library,    is,     I    may    say,    a    very    impressive 


260  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

department  of  the  motley  congeries  of  buildings 
which  form  the  Imperial  Palace,  and  is,  perhaps, 
the  greatest  princely  library  in  Europe,  containing, 
as  it  does,  over  one  million  volumes.  It  is, 
however,  as  well  organised  as  any  official  or 
Government  department  in  Vienna,  and  I  was 
soon  placed  in  possession  of  the  desired  documents, 
which  were  packed  and  prepared  for  dispatching. 
Charged  with  my  manuscripts,  I  proceeded  to 
visit  my  friend  Wolfram  at  his  quarters  and, 
indeed,  passed  the  rest  of  the  day  with  him  and 
his  hospitable  Christiane,  returning  home  after 
midnight. 

Wolfram,  I  may  add,  had  been  made  acquainted 
with  the  Archduke's  discourse  to  myself  on 
25th  January,  and  had  agreed  with  me  that 
His  Highness  was  probably  the  best  judge  of 
the  situation,  that  any  further  interference  in 
matters  which  were  already  officially  provided 
for  must  be  overstepping  the  bounds  of  our 
concern  once  we  had  been  tacitly  charged  with 
a  well-meant  but  unnecessary  officiousness.  In 
any  case,  Wolfram  expressed  an  assurance  that 
his  Bocher  ally  in  Berlin  was  certain  not  to  fail 
him,  and  with  the  relieving  agreement  that  our 
suspicions  had  probably  been  exaggerated,  we 
bade  each  other  good-night,  myself  returning  to 
my  apartments.  At  noon  on  the  next  day, 
Tuesday,  I  took  the  sudden  resolution  to  spend 
the  remainder  of  the  week  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Baden,  a  pine  country  which  suited  my  con- 
stitution, and  where  I  had  previously,  the  occasion 


A  DOUBLE  SURPRISE  261 

offering,  made  short  sojourns  of  two  or  three  days 
— ^at  Heiligen  Kreuz,  to  be  exact.  At  the  same 
time  I  could  dispatch  the  Archduke's  manuscripts 
to  Meyerling  by  my  servant  Bratfisch.  The 
latter  I  ordered  to  prepare  effects  for  a  few  days' 
stay  at  Heiligen  Kreuz  and  follow  me  thither  by 
the  four-o'clock  train. 

«  *  «  «  « 

I  arrived  at  the  Southern  Station  a  few  minutes 
before  the  early  afternoon  train  w^as  due  to  leave, 
and,  as  I  entered,  had  the  surprise  of  seeing 
Madame  Larricarda  issue  in  her  carriage  from  the 
direction  of  the  departure  platform.  Her  face, 
I  thought,  was  rather  flushed,  but  whether  or  not 
on  account  of  this  malencontre,  I  do  not  know, 
and  now  shall  never  know.  Duly  I  took  my 
ticket  and  a  place  in  an  empty  compartment, 
the  slow  service,  in  the  course  of  a  halting  per- 
formance, depositing  me  at  Baden.  Here  another 
surprise  awaited  me,  for  on  leaving  the  train  I 
beheld,  issuing  from  a  compartment  ahead  of  my 
own,  the  elegant  figure  of  one  whom  I  had  long  had 
reason  to  know.     It  was  Mademoiselle  Vetsera. 

In  such  a  place  and  under  such  circumstances, 
I  determined  that  my  role  should  not  seem  to  be 
that  of  a  spy  on  the  lady's  movements,  and  so 
tarried  while  the  little  station  was  cleared  of  its 
few  passengers.  After  some  delay  the  wheels  of 
a  moving  carriage  made  themselves  heard,  and 
supposing  it  to  be  a  Meyerling  equipage,  I  waited 
till  the  sound  died  away,  and  passed  out  at  the 
gate.     A  fleeting  glimpse  of  the  conveyance,  as  it 


262  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

rolled  off,  told  me  that  it  was  an  ordinary  hackney 
coach  of  the  provincial  type  ;  its  direction  was 
the  road  to  Meyerling. 

There  were  no  other  vehicles  in  sight,  and 
refusing  the  offer  of  a  station  official  to  procure 
one,  I  decided  to  walk  to  Heiligen  Kreuz,  the  day 
being  bright  and  clear,  although  extremely  cold. 
Accordingly,  I  took  the  road  north-westward, 
meditating  my  two  surprises,  and  much  absorbed 
in  them — meditans  nescio  quid  nugarum,  et  totus 
in  illis,  as  we  used  to  say  at  Feldkirch.  That 
Madame  Larricarda  had  accompanied  Made- 
moiselle Vetsera  to  the  Southern  Station,  now 
seemed  fairly  clear.  But  why  Madame  Larricarda 's 
equipage — since  the  younger  lady  had  a  score  of 
her  father's  at  her  own  disposal  ?  And  why  the 
conjunction  of  these  particular  stars  at  this 
particular  time,  since,  owing  to  her  profuse 
hospitality  to  the  Prussians  during  the  past  few 
months,  Madame  Larricarda  had  passed  under 
an  inevitable  cloud  ?  And  since  Rudolph  and 
Marie  had  ceased  to  meet  at  Madame  Larricarda's, 
the  lady,  I  knew  for  fact,  had  broken  off  relations 
with  her  erstwhile  hostess  ;  why  then  this  sudden 
rapprochement  ?  And  the  flushed  face  of  the 
Baroness  as  she  left  the  station,  with  the  startled 
and  conscious  look  of  the  person  who  had  seen 
yet  pretends  not  to  have  seen — mystery.  Think- 
ing this  and  much  more  along  the  route,  I 
soon  found  myself  slowing  down  in  the  pine  groves 
that  fringe  the  little  townlet  of  Heiligen  Kreuz, 
moving  in  meditative  mood  through  the  woods. 


AN  OLD  ACQUAINTANCE  263 

inhaling  the  balsam-tang'd  air  of  the  Tanncnwald 
as  I  walked.  Suddenly  a  boisterous  greeting 
struek  my  ear,  and  looking  up,  I  beheld  the 
brown  chalet  known  as  the  Gasthaus,  with  Herr 
Wirt  himself,  the  landlord,  advancing  towards  me, 
bare-headed  and  with  an  outstretched  hand  of 
welcome.  I  had  sojourned  several  times  before 
under  his  roof -tree,  and  we  were  good  friends. 

"  Salve,  in  Gottes  Namen  !  "  he  cried — the 
common  sportsman's  greeting  in  these  parts. 
"  I  kiss  your  hand.  A  hundred  welcomes,  Herr 
Sekretar — but  " — and  he  whispered  it  solemnly — 
"  we  had  a  great  company  here  yesterday — the 
very  Crown  Prince  Rudolph  himself.  You  are  all 
conspiring  to  heap  honour  on  my  old  age." 

"  Silentium,  Wirt,"  I  returned,  in  another 
sportsman's  term  when  the  guns  are  creeping, 
"  silence,  my  dear  Wirt ;  but  His  Highness  does 
not  come  here  frequently,  does  he  ?  " 

"  The  first  time  for  two  years — alas  !  "  the 
landlord  replied,  "  and  then  only  because  his 
carriage  broke  down  in  the  cursed  road — no,  I 
mean  the  blessed  road,  for  it  gave  me  the  blessing 
of  his  presence,"  and  the  old  sportsman  gave 
lung  to  his  jollity  as  only  the  pine-woodsmen  can. 
"  The  Archduke  helped  his  coachmen  to  extricate 
the  carriage  from  a  ditch  ;  then  all  came  up  to 
slake  their  thirst.  And  they  drank  of  the  best, 
as  you  shall." 

"  Wirt,"  I  replied,  "  I  will  take  my  old  rooms 
and  remain  with  you  till  the  close  of  the  week. 
The  Archduke  returns  from  Meyerling  on  Saturday 


264  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

or  Sunday  next.     My  man  Bratfisch  arrives  this 
evening  with  effects." 

"  Bratfisch  ?  "  questioned  the  Wirt,  "  but  we 
had  Bratfisch  here  yesterday  with  His  Highness — 
Joseph  Bratfisch." 

"  Well,  my  man  is  Conrad  Bratfisch — they  are 
cousins,  Wirt,"  I  explained. 

"  Ah,  so  ?  But,  Herr  Sekretar,  you  look  well, 
and  are  a  thousand  times  welcome  to  my  house," 
said  the  old  man,  as  he  showed  me  into  the  chalet 
hall. 

*  *  *  *  * 

The  Gasthaus  prided  itself  on  the  special 
excellence  of  its  cellar,  and  its  Tokay  was  certainly 
of  a  superior  brand,  as  I  already  knew,  and  a  rare 
drink  in  cold  weather.  In  ordering  a  bottle, 
therefore,  v/ith  my  evening  meal,  I  was  fully 
prepared  for  a  lengthy  disquisition  from  my  Wirt 
on  the  virtues  of  this  particular  cuvee,  and  was 
not  surprised  when,  in  accordance  with  the  ritual 
of  Austrian  sporting  landlords,  my  host  appeared 
in  person  to  dust,  draw  and  serve  his  precious 


wme. 


My  cellar  has  been  badly  depleted  during 
the  past  week,  Herr  Sekretar,"  he  commented. 
"  I  have  had  four  guests  here  from  a  country 
towards  which  I  have  never  been  well  disposed. 
I  mean  Prussia — my  four  gentlemen  came  from 
Berlin,  and  had  they  known  of  my  Tokay,  I  fear 
I  should  now  have  none  to  offer  you  ;  for  in 
truth,  they  have  nearly  drunk  me  dry." 

"  Prussians  here  in   Heiligen   Kreuz  !  "    I  re- 


A  PRUSSIAN  CONTINGENT  265 

marked,  with  some  surprise.  "  And  what  doing, 
Wirt  ?  Vienna  is  overrun  with  them  in  these 
days." 

"  Well,"  he  replied,  "  they  said  but  little  about 
themselves,  explaining  only  that  they  were  going 
farther  afield  after  game.  They  left  only  this 
morning,  and  I  can  assure  you  I  was  not  sorry  to 
see  the  last  of  them — a  noisy,  overbearing  and 
quarrelsome  kind.  No,  I  do  not  like  them, 
though  we  speak  the  same  language." 

"  Of  course  they  told  you  where  they  were 
going  to  ?  "  I  suggested. 

"  No,  indeed.  Excellency,"  replied  the  land- 
lord simply;  "and  I  am  so  pleased  to  be  rid  of 
them  that  I  do  not  at  all  care.  They  took  the 
northern  road,  and  had  they  not  left  here  to-day 
I  might  have  been  forced  to  suggest  a  change  of 
scene  to  them.  Rough-housing  is  hardly  strong 
enough  for  the  way  they  used  the  place — drinking, 
swearing,  singing,  card-playing,  firing  off  their 
guns  in  the  open,  insulting  the  house-women — 
oh,  but  I  am  glad  they  have  left,  I  can  tell  you, 
Herr  Sekretilr." 

"  They  saw  His  Highness  yesterday,  of  course  ?  " 
I  inquired. 

"  Gott  sei  Dank,  nein,  Herr  Sekretiir.  Fortun- 
ately they  were  over  in  Baden  when  His  Highness 
arrived.  They  returned  for  the  evening  meal  and 
tendered  their  very  welcome  notice."  And  the 
old  man's  commercial  instincts  asserting  them- 
selves, he  added,  with  a  grin  :  "  Like  true 
Prussians,  they  quarrelled  about  the  bill,  in  order 


266  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

to  find  an  excuse  not  to  tip  the  servants.  It  is 
an  old  trick  of  the  Prussians." 

Having  concluded  my  meal,  I  invited  the 
landlord  to  keep  me  company  while  we  smoked 
over  the  great  log-fire.  He  had  been  a  corporal 
of  the  Imperial  Leib  Garde,  and  previously  had 
seen  service  in  the  war  against  Prussia  in  1 866  ; 
a  noted  sportsman,  he  had  trapped  wolf  and  bear 
and  shot  white  eagle  in  the  Styrian  Alps  and 
been  one  of  the  corps  of  guides  that  accompanied 
the  Archduke  on  his  memorable  hunting  trip 
down  the  Danube  to  the  Iron  Gates. 

"  His  Majesty  Kaiser  Franz,  God  preserve  him," 
and  the  old  fellow  rose  as  he  uttered  this  pious 
ejaculation,  "once  honoured  this  old  room,  with 
Prince  Furstenburg  and  Prince  Kinsky,  when 
he  hunted  from  the  Palace  at  Baden.  I  waited 
on  him  as  he  drank  my  own  home-brew  and 
smoked  his  black  cigars  in  that  very  chair.  I  am 
an  older  man  than  His  Majesty  by  six  years — 
was  born  in  '24 — but  he  never  comes  this  way 
now,  and  I  have  not  seen  him  since  the  funeral 
of  old  Kaiser  Ferdinand,  in  whose  Body  Guard 
I  served  for  four  years,  and  afterwards  in  the 
present  Emperor's  for  three.  It  is  my  opinion, 
Herr  Sekretar,  that  all  is  not  well  with  old  Austria. 
The  country  seems  to  be  owned  by  those  Prussians, 
and  you  find  them  everywhere  nowadays.  They 
are  worse  than  the  Jews,  in  truth  ;  for  at  least 
your  Jew  fights  in  the  open,  and  as  every  man 
of  sense  knows  that  a  Jew  means  to  cheat  him 
if  he  can,  why,  he  is  a  fool  who  overdeals  with  him, 


THE  WITCH  OF  ALLAND  267 

or  takes  him  for  a  friend.  But  those  Prussians 
are  hke  snakes  without  a  rattle,  and  possess  you 
before  you  are  aware  of  their  presence." 

"  Better  times  are  ahead  of  us,  however,  my 
dear  Wirt,"  I  remarked  dreamily,  for  in  truth 
I  was  wondering  why  Bratfisch  had  not  yet 
reported  himself.  "  We  have  high  hopes  of  the 
Crown  Prince,  as  you  know." 

"  So  be  it,  Excellenz,"  replied  the  old  man ; 
"  but  you  remember  the  prophecy  of  the  old 
witch  of  Alland  near  by  ?  " 

"  No,  indeed,  Wirt;  I  have  never  heard  of  it," 
I  answered. 

"  The  old  lady,  who  must  have  seen  over  a 
century,  is  dead  now — God  rest  her,"  explained 
the  landlord.  "  She  used  to  come  over  here  every 
week  for  her  three  black  loaves  and  a  slice  of 
game,  w^hich  were  always  at  her  disposal,  poor 
creature.  She  foretold  me  the  early  death  of  my 
only  children.  She  was  here  the  day  our  Kaiser 
Franz  arrived  with  Prince  Furstenburg  and  Prince 
Kinsky,  and  it  was  then  she  made  her  prophecy. 
Like  all  very  old  persons,  she  presumed  on  her 
many  years,  and  as  the  Kaiser  was  leaving  the 
chalet  approached  him  and  made  a  deep  reverence. 

" '  Was  willst,  alte  Mutter  ?  '  asked  His  Majesty, 
amused  at  the  hardihood  of  the  ancient  dame. 

"'I  would  read  your  hand.  Majesty,'  she 
replied. 

"  '  Gewisz — certainly,'  said  the  ever-friendly 
Kaiser  Franz,  and  readily  presented  his  hand. 

"  The  old  creature  gazed  for  a  moment  at  the 


268  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

open  palm,  while  all  around  stood  silent.  And 
having  gazed,  she  made  another  reverence  as  if 
to  withdraw. 

But,'  cried  the  laughing  Emperor,  *  you  have 
told  me  nothing.  What  says  my  hand,  alte 
Mutter  ? '  and  he  presented  his  palm  once  more. 

Seventy  full  years  of  kingship  to  your 
Majesty,'  the  old  lady  read.  *  Yet  three  great 
sorrows.  But  the  end  is  glorious — and  the 
Emperors  of  Germany  will  again  reign  in  Vienna.'  " 

With  many  reminiscences  of  his  sporting  and 
military  days,  the  old  Wirt  regaled  me  as  the 
clock  crept  on  to  midnight,  at  which  hour, 
Bratfisch  having  not  yet  arrived,  I  decided  to 
retire. 

"  My  man,  as  you  see,  Wirt,  has  disappointed 
me,"  I  said.  "  Unfortunately  the  fellow  drinks 
at  times,  but  as  he  is  an  excellent  servant  other- 
wise, I  overlook  this  particular  shortcoming. 
Doubtless  he  will  arrive  later.  In  the  meantime, 
I  require  rest,  and  as  my  effects  have  not  come, 
you  will  understand,  my  dear  Wirt,  that  you  can 
oblige  me  in  a  matter  of  some  importance  :  can 
you  lend  me  a  night-shirt  ?  " 

This  simple  request  appeared  to  tickle  my  land- 
lord exceedingly,  for  the  old  man  vented  his  sense 
of  comedy  in  a  lungful  roar.  Having  escorted 
me  to  my  room,  suppHed  me  with  the  required 
sleeping  apparel  and  bade  me  a  good  night,  the 
Wirt  consigned  me  to  very  welcome  slumber. 
***** 

I  had  decided,  as  I  often  do  when  alone,  to 


(( 
(( 


(( 
(( 


CONRAD  A  LATE-COMER  269 

indulge  my  English  tastes  while  sojourning  at 
the  Gasthaus,  and  had  ordered  breakfast  for 
nine  o'clock.  My  man  Conrad  had  not  as  yet, 
much  to  my  surprise,  made  his  appearance. 
Hardly,  however,  had  I  touched  my  toasted  bacon 
and  eggs  when  the  landlord  knocked  at  the 
sitting-room  door  and  announced  the  arrival  of 
my  servant.  Clearly  he  had  had  a  night  of  it, 
if  appearances  counted  for  anything.  I  was  glad, 
ab  all  events,  to  see  the  rascal  safe. 

Well,  Conrad,"  I  said,  with  affected  sarcasm, 

this  is  a  pleasure  which  is  overdue  by  a  dozen 
hours.     Account  for  yourself." 

Unfortunately,  sir,"  he  explained,  with  a  grin, 

all  the  appearances  are  against  me.  The  truth 
is,  however,  I  lost  the  evening  train  to  Baden 
yesterday,  and  had  to  take  the  last  from  Vienna 
— at  eleven  o'clock.  At  midnight  in  Baden  I 
could  get  no  trap,  as  all  but  one  of  the  hostelries 
had  closed  by  that  hour.  I  decided  therefore  to 
leave  your  luggage  at  the  Station " 

"  Conrad,"  I  objected  reprovingly,  "  you  must 
distinctly  remember  my  telling  you  that  I  ex- 
pected you  to  deliver  the  small  packet  at  Meyerling 
to  His  Highness.  It  should  have  been  there 
yesterday." 

"It  is  there  now,  sir,"  he  returned.  "I  have 
just  tramped  over  from  Meyerling." 

"  So-ho  ?  And  by  whose  authority  did  you 
proceed  to  Meyerling  ?  "  I  asked;  in  some  astonish- 
ment, although  relieved  that  the  Hofburg  manu- 
scripts had  been  delivered. 


270  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

"  When  I  decided  to  leave  your  luggage — 
which  I  could  not  have  carried  so  far — at  Baden 
Station,  I  fortunately  remembered  the  packet  for 
His  Highness,  and  brought  it  with  me,  expecting 
to  get  a  conveyance  here,  so  that  I  might  deliver 
it  at  the  Lodge,"  explained  Conrad. 

"  My  own  requirements,  of  course,  counted  for 
nothing,  you  rascal,"  I  commented. 

"  Excuse  me,  sir,"  he  went  on,  with  a  broad 
grin,  "  but  the  last  time  we  stayed  here  we  left 
a  night-shirt  behind.     I  thought,  perhaps " 

"  Du  Heiliger  Huhertus — aher  der  Kerl  hat 
Recht — the  fellow  is  right,"  cried  the  landlord, 
with  a  quick  laugh.     "  I  had  quite  forgotten  it." 

"  Go  on,  Conrad,"  I  urged.  "  What  happened 
after  Baden  ?  " 

"  Well,"  he  explained,  "  I  decided  to  walk  over, 
and  first  had  a  few  drinks.  It  was  rather  cold, 
you  will  acknowledge,  sir ;  so  I  took  a  small 
bottle  of  Kirsch  with  me.  About  two  miles 
outside  Baden  I  came  upon  the  Gabelung,  where 
the  roads  divide,  and  forgot  the  instructions  given 
me  at  Baden.  In  order  to  refresh  my  memory, 
I  took  a  pull  at  the  Kirsch  and " 

"  — ^and,  of  course,  took  the  easiest  road — 
the  road  going  downhill,"  the  landlord  interposed, 
with  a  laugh. 

"  Unfortunately,  Herr  Wirt,  that  is  so," 
admitted  Bratfisch  candidly.  "  I  took  the  lower 
road  and  kept  on  walking,  meeting  no  one,  nor 
seeing  a  lighted  house  along  the  way.  After 
about  two  hours'  walk,  I  found  myself  skirting 


EARLY  ADVENTURERS  271 

a  pine-wood,  and  well  recollecting  the  Tannenwald 
of  this  neighbourhood,  was  certain  I  was  in  the 
right  direction.  Encouraged  by  this  reflection, 
I  continued  on  the  outskirts  of  the  wood,  having 
had  another  pull  at  the  flask,  and  kept  on  walking 
— uphill,  all  the  way,  for  perhaps  another  hour, 
when  I  suddenly  came  upon  the  end  of  the  wood 
where  a  narrow  pathway  leads  downward " 

"  — to  the  end  of  the  road  which  you  should 
have  taken  at  first.  You  were  near  Purkerdorf 
or  Petersdorf,  man  ;  twelve  miles  from  Heiligen 
Kreuz  as  the  crow  flies — well  on  to  Vienna," 
explained  the  landlord. 

"  Fortunately,"  Conrad  proceeded,  "as  I  waited 
here  and  looked  at  my  watch,  which  pointed  to 
close  upon  three  o'clock,  early  trappers,  with 
guns  slung,  came  down  the  pathway.  When  I 
inquired  for  the  Cross  they  laughed,  telling  me  it 
was  ten  miles  through  the  woods.  They  gave 
me  a  choice  of  the  nearest  places — Alland,  six 
miles  away,  or  else  Meyerling,  three  to  four.  I 
remembered  the  packet  and  decided  for  Meyerling 
— late  though  it  was,  proceeding  with  the  two 
hunters  down  to  the  high  road,  which  here  leads 
into  the  valley.  They  pointed  out  the  dim  lights 
about  two  to  three  miles  distant. 

"  '  That  is  Meyerling  Schloss,'  said  one,  '  but 
by  the  time  you  get  there  all  will  be  abed.  You 
had  better  walk  down  with  us  to  the  Black  Eagle. 
There  you  may  rest,  perhaps,  till  daylight.  We 
go  by  there.' 

"  I   accompanied   them   to   the   Black   Eagle, 


272  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

lying  on  the  left  as  we  reach  the  vale,  and  here 
I  entered,  the  trappers  proceeding  on  their  way. 
He  was  a  bad-tempered  man  who  admitted  me 
at  the  Black  Eagle." 

"  Old  Franz  Ernst — I  believe  you,"  the  land- 
lord commented.  "  But  was  it  not  a  fat  fellow 
who  admitted  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  my  man  replied ;  "  very  thick,  and  with 
a  great  black  beard.  My  oath,  but  he  could  use 
bad  language." 

"  Old  Kurt,"  explained  the  Wirt ;  "  he  was  with 
me  here  ten  years." 

"  Well,  sir,"  proceeded  Bratfisch,  "  the  inn 
was  full  for  the  game  season.  There  was  room 
nowhere  except  in  the  hotel  parlour.  My  grumbler 
objected,  however,  that  they  were  strangers  just 
arrived  from  Petersdorf  and  going  forward  for  a 
morning's  sport,  and  might  object  to  my  presence. 
Nevertheless,  as  I  ordered  a  bottle,  he  would 
ask  their  permission — which  was  granted.  I 
entered  the  parlour,  where  four  hunters  were 
sleeping,  fully  dressed,  three  of  them  in  chairs 
and  one  on  a  couch.  They  were  not  pleased  at 
my  arrival,  I  can  assure  you,  since  I  woke  them 
from  their  sleep  ;  but  as  I  said  nothing,  and  sat 
drinking  by  the  fire,  they  were  silent.  I  soon 
fell  a-dozing  myself,  and  in  an  hour  or  so  the  four 
sleepers  prepared  to  go,  and  soon  had  left  the  inn. 
Shortly  afterwards,  and  as  the  fire  was  burning 
out,  I  decided  to  leave  the  place  and  make  for 
Meyerling,  deliver  my  packet,  and  return  along 
the   high    road   to   Heiligen    Kreuz.     As   I   was 


AN  INTERESTING  PORTRAIT       273 

leaving  the  parlour,  I  noticed  a  small  wallet  lying 
close  by  a  chair  on  which  one  of  the  hunters  had 
been  sleeping  ;  picking  it  up,  I  reflected  that  it 
was  dropped  by  one  of  the  gentlemen,  and  placed 
it  in  my  great-coat  pocket,  intending  to  give  it 
to  the  house-man,  but  as  we  had  a  little  argument 
about  the  price  of  my  bottle,  I  forgot  to  do  so. 
Here  is  the  wallet,"  said  Conrad,  producing  a 
worn  pocket-book ;  "  only  a  couple  of  portraits — 
the  owner  and  his  young  lady,  I  presume." 

The  landlord  and  myself  looked  at  the  portraits 
— one  that  of  a  typical  German  girl,  the  other 

"But,"  cried  the  landlord,  "this  is  one  of  my 
guests  of  last  week — the  noisiest  of  the  gang,  too, 
and  a  quick  drinker.  Look,  Herr  Sekretiir,"  and 
he  handed  me  the  portrait. 

I  had  finished  my  breakfast  and  was  lighting 
a  cigar,  but  had  reason,  nevertheless,  to  be 
interested  in  this  particular  specimen  of  the 
photographic  art.  It  was  the  picture  of  the 
Prussian  who  had  been  so  offensive  towards  me 
at  Madame  Larricarda's  on  the  previous  Friday. 

Having  satisfied  myself  by  close  scrutiny  that 
this  was  really  my  unfriendly  acquaintance,  I 
requested  Conrad  to  proceed. 

It  was  just  breaking  light,  sir,"  he  went  on, 
when  I  left  the  Black  Eagle  Inn,  but  the  road 
was  in  fairly  good  condition,  and  I  soon  covered 
the  ground  between  myself  and  Meyerling  Lodge. 
It  was  quite  near  six  o'clock  when  I  reached  the 
Schloss,  and  as  I  made  for  the  gates,  passed  four 
hunters  with  guns  slung,  whom  I  easily  recognised, 


(C 


274  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

from  their  speech,  to  be  my  four  companions  of 
the  Black  Eagle.     Passing  by  the  Lodge  entrance, 
I  picked  my  way  to  the  stables  at  the  rear,  where, 
as  I  expected,  I  found  my  cousin  Joseph,  then  just 
rising,  with  the  intention  of  calling  His  Highness. 
Naturally,  he  was  astonished  at  my  early  visit, 
and  gave  me  a  cup  of  hot  coffee,  while  I  explained 
the  adventure  which  had  brought  me  to  Meyerling 
at  that  untimely  hour.     His  suggestion   that  I 
should  wait   till   His  Highness  had  left  for  his 
morning's  sport,  when  he  would  drive  me  back, 
I  refused  to  accept,  since  I  was  anxious  to  return 
to  Heiligen  Kreuz  as  soon  as  possible  and  explain 
my  absence.     The  coffee  had  revived  me,  and  as 
the    day  would  soon  break  clear  I  felt  equal  to 
the  journey  back.     Entrusting  my  packet,  accord- 
ingly, to  Joseph,  and  taking  his  directions  for  the 
route  to  be  followed,  I  bade  him  adieu,  and — here 
I  am,  sir.     As  I  left  the  grounds,  I  was  hailed  by 
Mr  Loschek,  prowling  near  the  gates.     They  are 
early  birds  at  Meyerhng  evidently.     He  does  not 
know  me.     I  explained  that  I  was  the  cousin  of 
Joseph  and,  as  he  asked  no  further  questions, 
passed  quickly  along.     When  two  miles  on  my 
way  the   sound  of  two  sharp  rifle-shots  struck 
upon  my  ear,  and  I  knew  the  day's  sport  had 
begun." 


CHAPTER  XX 

The  Pine-woods  round  Heiligen  Kreuz — An  Unexpected  Rencontre — 
Dr  Widerhofer  of  Vienna — He  announces  the  Murder  of  the 
Archduke  and  Marie  Vetsera — How  Baden  got  the  News — We 
go  on  to  the  Lodge — Some  Official  Declarations  and  Dis- 
crepancies— Joseph  Bratfisch's  Statements — An  Impromptu  En- 
tertainment— The  Morning  of  30th  January — Bratfisch  and  his 
Master — How  the  Bodies  were  found — I  visit  the  Death-chamber 
— My  Importance  ceases — A  Conversation  with  Bratfisch — The 
Alleged  Letters  of  Prince  Rudolph — My  Wirt  arrives — I  return 
to  Heiligen  Kreuz — A  Sad  Special  to  Vienna — Burial  of  the 
Crown  Prince  Rudolph — Koinoffs  Last  Letter 

Having  dismissed  my  servant  Conrad  to  a  well- 
earned  breakfast,  and  given  orders  to  the  land- 
lord to  have  my  traps  fetched  from  the  station  at 
Baden,  I  prepared  for  a  few  hours'  excursion 
through  the  pine-woods,  which  from  the  Gasthaus 
run  for  about  two  miles  back  on  the  Heiligen  Kreuz 
road,  and  form  the  arc  of  a  circle,  the  far  extremity 
of  which  about  touches  the  Gabelung  where  the 
route  divides.  On  leaving  the  chalet  about 
half-past  ten,  I  promised  my  Wirt,  not  caring  to 
lunch  alone,  that  I  should  be  back  betimes  to 
share  his  table  d'hote,  and  struck  out  through  the 
forest  with  the  intention  of  gaining  the  Baden 
route  and  returning  by  the  highway — o.  walk  of 
about  six  miles.  The  morning  was  bright  and 
inviting,  the  bridle-paths  clear,  and  as  I  covered 
the  ground  the  song  of  the  industrious  woodman 
and  the  music  of  his  axe  reminded  me  of  the 

275 


276  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

welcome  fact  that   Vienna  was  far  distant  and 
myself  on  holiday. 

It  had  been  my  intention  to  question  Bratfisch 
more  closely  as  to  the  personages  staying  at  the 
Lodge  over  at  Meyerling,  but  forbore  from  doing 
so,  not  so  much  on  account  of  the  presence  of 
our  Wirt  as  for  the  reason  that  Conrad,  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  arrival  of  Mademoiselle  Vetsera 
at  Baden  on  the  previous  afternoon,  could  hardly 
have  learned  of  the  lady's  being  at  Meyerling 
during  his  short  interview  in  the  early  morning 
with  his  cousin,  Joseph  Bratfisch,  who,  it  was 
tolerably  certain,  moreover,  would  hardly  have 
disclosed  the  fact.  And  whistling  as  I  tramped, 
for  want  of  thought,  as  some  English  poet  puts 
it,  I  reached  the  extremity  of  the  Tannenwald, 
debouching  on  the  Baden  road,  where  I  continued 
walking,  meaning  to  retrace  my  steps  from  the 
Gabelung.  As  I  reached  this  point  a  pair-horsed 
cab  turned  the  bend  and  passed  me  at  so  terrific 
a  rate  that  it  well-nigh  overturned  at  the  junction 
of  the  roads,  and  for  the  moment  its  progress  was 
arrested.  A  pale  face  peered  from  the  carriage, 
and  at  once  I  recognised  the  Archduke's  body- 
physician.  Doctor  Widerhofer,  who  immediately 
acknowledged  my  salute. 

"  God  in  heaven,"  he  cried,  as  I  approached  the 
vehicle,  "  but  tell  me  what  has  happened  ?  " 

"  Happened  ?  "  I  questioned,  already  alarmed 
at  his  evident  anguish.  "  What  can  you  mean. 
Doctor  ?  " 

Jump  in  and  come  on  with  me,"  he  urged,  as 


(( 


THE  DOCTOR'S  STORY  277 

the  coachman  whipped  up  the  horses.  "  Have 
you  not  heard — the  Archduke  is  dead — found 
murdered  at  the  Lodge  between  seven  and  eight 
o'clock  this  morning  !  But  I  thought  you  were 
with  His  Highness  ?  " 

I  could  find  no  words  to  express  my  horror  at 
this  terrible  news,  which  my  mind  refused  at  first 
to  credit. 

"  Murder — the  Archduke — oh,  Doctor — surely 
you  dream  ?  "  were  the  only  words  I  could  utter, 
as  I  flung  myself  back  in  the  carriage. 

"  It  is  no  dream,  friend — no  dream,  alas  !  "  he 
wailed.  "I  have  come  by  telegraphic  summons. 
How  far  are  we  from  the  Lodge  ?  " 

I  paid  no  attention  to  the  question,  but  snatched 
the  telegram  from  his  hand  and  read. 

"  This  does  not  say  he  is  dead,"  I  began, 
"  only  an  accident " 

"  No ;  but  the  news  is  already  at  Baden,"  cried 
the  Doctor.  "  He  is  dead,  and  with  him  his 
woman.  At  first  the  people  heard  it  was  the 
Archduchess.  The  coachman  knows  —  it  was 
Mademoiselle  Vetsera." 

I  looked  at  my  watch,  which  indicated  fifteen 
minutes  past  noon. 

"  I  will  go  on  with  you,  in  God's  name,"  I  said ; 
"  we  can  make  the  Schloss  by  one  o'clock." 
*  *  *  *  * 

It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  do  more  than 
give  the  details  of  a  story  which  moved  the 
emotion  of  the  civilised  world  in  its  time.  At  the 
investigation  which  was  subsequently  held  by  a 


278  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

commission  composed  of  Councillors  Claudy  and 
Westermayer,  Doctors  Widerhofer  and  Miikleiten 
and  Captain  Oser,  the  facts  were  given  to  the 
public  in  the  following  way  : — 

The  Archduke  had  not  hunted  on  Tuesday, 
29th  January,  although  his  companions,  Prince 
Philip  of  Coburg  and  Count  Hoyos,  had  spent  the 
morning  in  the  forest.  Late  after  noon  Made- 
moiselle Vetsera  had  unexpectedly  arrived  at 
the  Schloss,  and  passed  the  remainder  of  the 
evening  with  the  gentlemen.  The  servant  Joseph 
Bratfisch,  a  favourite  of  the  Archduke,  was 
summoned  towards  midnight  to  the  company's 
presence,  and  bidden,  for  want  of  more  expert 
artists,  to  regale  the  party  with  the  latest 
music  hall  songs  from  Vienna.  Bratfisch,  like 
many  of  the  Viennese  serving-men,  was  a  capital 
singer  and  an  unusually  clever  whistler,  possessing 
in  this  latter  capacity  an  inimitable  gift  of  render- 
ing the  song  of  birds — a  great  recommendation 
to  the  Archduke,  who  was  a  noted  student  of 
bird  life.  It  was  not  denied  that  much  wine  had 
been  drunk  during  the  night.  All  concerned 
retired  after  two  o'clock  in  the  morning — the 
Archduke  and  the  lady  to  the  sleeping-chamber 
on  the  ground  floor. 

At  this  point  the  improbable  and  untenable 
make  their  appearance  : 

It  was  stated  that  on  retiring  at  two  a.m.,  the 
Archduke,  already  flown  with  drink,  deliberately 
sat  down  at  the  desk  in  his  little  study  hard  by, 
and  indited  letters — the  serious  and  solemn  last 


WHAT  BRATFISCH  TOLD  279 

letters  of  a  man  who  is  bent  on  self-destruction — 
to  his  mother,  the  Empress  Elizabeth,  to  Kaiser 
Franz  Josef,  to  the  Crown  Princess  Stephanie, 
to  the  Prince  of  Braganza,  and  to  the  Police 
Commissioner  of  Vienna,  Szoegyeni.  All  these 
letters  were  said  to  have  been  fomid  on  an  open 
table,  while  in  his  correspondence,  or  ready-mail 
basket,  was  afterwards  fomid  a  letter  addressed 
to  his  friend  and  editorial  guide,  Weilen,  promising 
to  complete  a  piece  of  literary  work  already 
begun,  a  sketch  entitled  Godollo. 

The  servant  Bratfisch  stated  that  about  the 
regular  hour  for  preparing  for  the  chase,  six-forty- 
five  A.M.,  he  had,  as  instructed,  called  the  Archduke, 
who  ordered  him  to  draw  the  curtains  of  the  window 
to  the  left  of  the  Prince's  bed,  with  a  view  to  seeing 
how  the  weather  promised.  On  the  Archduke  pro- 
nouncing it  too  dark  for  sport,  Bratfisch  retired. 
It  was  held  that  the  Archduke  and  his  mistress 
committed  suicide  between  seven  and  eight  a.m., 
both  being  discovered  dead  at  the  latter  hour. 
It  was  also  stated,  for  the  benefit  of  the  public, 
that,  while  the  lady  had  taken  strychnine,  the 
Prince  had  shot  himself  with  a  revolver  in  the 
left  temple — two  statements  which  took  no  account 
of  the  facts  that  the  Prince  was  also  said  to  have 
been  found  lying  on  his  right  side — with  his  back 
exposed  to  the  window  on  the  left  of  the  couch — 
while  the  girl's  body  was  declared  to  have  been 
found  reclining  as  if  normally  at  rest,  a  condition 
altogether  inconsistent  with  death  by  strychnine, 
which  distorts  the  frame. 


280  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

A  common  statement — in  vogue  in  that  region 
to  this  day — has  it  that  the  Prince  was  shot 
through  the  heart  and  from  behind,  a  view  which 
would  coincide  with  the  first  statement — namely, 
that  the  body  had  been  found  lying  on  the  right 
side.  The  same  tradition  holds  that  Mademoiselle 
Vetsera  was  shot  through  the  left  temple — a  view 
entirely  coinciding  with  the  assumption  that  the 
window  to  the  left  of  the  couch  had  been  opened, 
and  the  sleepers  murdered. 

*  *  *  *  * 

On  our  arrival  at  the  Lodge,  Doctor  Widerhofer 
was  admitted  at  once  to  the  chamber  of  the  Arch- 
duke, where  the  body  was  already  laid  out,  that 
of  Mademoiselle  Vetsera  having  been  removed  to 
an  adjoining  room,  where  it  was  disposed  on  a  couch 
and  completely  hidden  with  a  plain  white  coverlet, 
pending  the  arrival  of  relatives,  who  had  at  once 
been  summoned.  Two  candles  were  burning  in 
the  darkened  room,  and  nuns  from  some  neigh- 
bouring convent  were  already  holding  the  vigil. 
Although  I  entered  the  girl's  death-chamber,  I  was 
prevented,  from  the  position  of  the  table,  which 
ran  lengthwise  with  the  couch,  from  closely 
observing  the  body. 

On  his  issuing  from  the  dead  Prince's  chamber, 
accompanied  by  Count  Hoyos,  I  sought  a  word 
with  Doctor  Widerhofer,  who,  however,  only  shook 
his  head  mournfully  and  passed  into  the  second 
room.  Already  I  was  being  allowed  to  feel  that, 
my  master  having  gone,  my  own  importance  had 
also  ceased.     Count  Hoyos  left  the  Lodge  shortly 


4. 


H 


IN  THE  DEATH-CHAMBER  281 

afterwards,  and  eventually  conveyed  the  news 
to  the  Empress  Elizabeth.  Count  Bombelles,  I 
afterwards  learned,  was  the  offieial  chosen  to  give 
the  tragic  tidings  to  the  Archduke's  consort. 

Already,  by  the  early  afternoon,  men,  women 
and  children,  of  all  classes  and  from  every  village 
in  the  Crown  land  territories,  were  quickly  con- 
gregating in  the  Lodge  grounds,  all  of  them  as  if 
stricken  by  the  loss  of  a  dear  friend,  and  many  of 
them  giving  vent  to  their  tears.  Among  those 
who  drove  in  from  the  outlying  parts  was  my 
landlord  of  Heiligen  Kreuz,  who,  with  some  vague 
idea  of  serving  me,  after  the  news  had  spread,  had 
allowed  my  man  Conrad  to  accompany  him.  This 
was  fortunate,  and  I  instructed  Bratfisch  to 
ascertain  the  particulars  as  to  the  arrival  of 
Mademoiselle  Vetsera,  on  the  previous  day,  from 
his  cousin  Joseph,  an  excellent  servant  who  would 
have  given  his  life  for  the  Crown  Prince. 

About  four  o'clock  I  took  my  last  look  at 
the  Archduke  Rudolph,  in  whose  large  sleeping- 
chamber  a  chapelle  ardente  had  swiftly  been 
prepared,  several  nuns  and  two  priests  being 
present  in  prayer.  The  face  was  peaceful,  and 
hardly  more  pale  than  in  life.  The  forehead 
was  boxmd  at  the  temples  with  bandages,  on 
which,  however,  no  trace  of  wound-discoloration 
appeared.  On  the  coverlet,  over  the  breast,  lay 
a  silver  crucifix,  and  lighted  candelabra  lined 
each  side  of  the  death-bed.  Softly  the  rehgious 
were  intoning  the  Litany  for  the  Dead. 

As  no  preparations  had  been  made  for  my  stay 


282  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

at  the  Lodge,  and  on  Loschek  assuring  me  that 
the  residence  would  be  full  for  that  night,  I 
decided  to  accept  my  landlord's  suggestion  of 
returning  to  Heiligen  Kreuz  with  him,  reflecting 
that,  however  reluctant  I  might  feel  to  abandon 
my  dead  master,  the  only  black  wearing  apparel 
I  had  was  at  the  old  Gasthaus.  It  had  already 
been  arranged  that  the  body  should  be  taken 
on  the  morrow — ^the  last  day  of  January — by 
special  train,  to  Vienna,  which  I  was  to  accom- 
pany, according  to  the  instructions  of  Hoyos,  as 
one  of  the  principal  mourners. 

Before  leaving  the  Schloss  I  took  care  to  hear 
from  Joseph  Bratfisch  particulars  regarding  the 
visit  of  Mademoiselle  Vetsera. 

"  But,"  explained  Bratfisch,  "  His  Highness 
never  expected  the  lady.  Her  arrival  was  the 
surprise  of  his  life,  since  he  had  ordered  me 
to  prepare  his  study  for  work  he  intended  to 
do." 

"  And  did  she  make  no  explanations  ?  "  I 
inquired. 

"  The  lady  assured  His  Highness  more  than 
twice  within  my  hearing,  yesterday  afternoon, 
that  she  had  come  on  receipt  of  a  letter  from  the 
Archduke  requesting  her  to  do  so,  and  even  pro- 
duced the  note,  which  His  Highness  tossed 
carelessly  aside,  declaring  that  though  it  resembled 
his  handwriting,  he  had  written  no  letter.  Never- 
theless, he  was  not  displeased  to  see  her,  and  " — 
he  added  reflectively — "they had  at  least  a  happy 
last  afternoon  together." 


a 


THE  RETURN  TO  VIENNA  283 

And  as  to  the  other  letters — did  you  see 
them,  and  to  whom  were  they  addressed  ?  "  was 
my  next  question. 

Bratfisch  gave  me  the  names  of  the  personages 
to  whom  the  letters  found  had  been  addressed, 
assuring  me  that  he  had  seen  them  on  the  table 
when  the  door  had  been  burst  open,  but  had  not 
noted  them  before. 

"  And  when  did  His  Highness  write  them,  think 
you,  Bratfisch  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  That  is  to  me  a  mystery,"  he  replied,  shrugging 
his  shoulders,  "  unless  they  were  written  between 
the  hour  six-forty-five,  when  I  first  called  His 
Highness,  and  eight  o'clock.  It  is,  indeed,  doubt- 
ful, sir,  and  you  will  perhaps  understand  it,  when  I 
say  that  it  is  unlikely  he  could  have  written  them 
after  retiring  to  his  apartment  early  this  morn- 
ing. But,  of  course,"  he  added  thoughtfully, 
"early  morn  is  the  suicide's  hour,  as  we  always 
say  in  Vienna."  And  he  then  went  on  to  de- 
scribe the  position  of  the  bodies  when  they  were 
found. 

In  due  course  I  returned  to  Heiligen  Kreuz, 
and  on  the  morrow  proceeded,  as  arranged,  to 
Vienna,  with  the  mortuary  train,  where  the  body 
was  received  by  Kaiser  Franz.  I  was  also  among 
those  who  attended  the  obsequies  at  the  old 
Capuchin  Church,  where  the  Archduke  Rudolph 
was  laid  among  his  forbears — the  one-hundred- 
and-fourteenth  Habsburger  gathered  in  that 
ancient  crypt,  with  eleven  Emperors,  fourteen 
Empresses,  a  King  of  Rome — Napoleon's  son — 


284  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

two  Queens,  twenty-seven  Archdukes,  fifty-four 
Archduchesses,  two  Dukes  and  two  Electors. 
***** 

I  had,  on  returning  to  Vienna,  proceeded  to 
my  chambers  by  the  Hofgarten,  and  here  among 
my  papers  found  the  second  of  the  two  letters 
which  Conrad  had  delivered  to  me,  as  I  related, 
on  the  Monday  on  which  my  master  had  pro- 
ceeded to  Meyerling.  It  came  from  Koinoff,  and 
was  dated  Thurdsay,  24th  January,  from  the 
Angel  Hotel,  at  Liverpool,  whence  he  declared 
he  was  about  to  sail  for  the  United  States,  to 
begin  life  under  new  circumstances.  Money,  he 
admitted,  had  proved  too  great  a  temptation  for 
his  power  of  resistance,  and  he  had,  towards  the 
end,  engaged  in  the  adventure  of  playing  the 
double  spy.  The  letter  concluded  with  a  piece  of 
advice  which  was  now  of  no  avail  : 

"  Keep  your  closest  attention  on  the  Archduke's 
lower  household,"  he  wrote.  "  Any  harm  that 
comes  to  His  Highness  will  be  the  work  of  persons 
near  him  who  are  in  close  collusion  with  Berlin." 


EPILOGUE 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  banishment  of 
several  persons  took  place  as  a  result  of  the 
inquiry  into  the  eircum  stances  which  culminated 
in  the  tragedy  of  Meyerling,  over  which,  I  need 
hardly  add,  a  veil  of  inscrutable  mystery  has  per- 
sistently hung,  and  anent  which  several  versions 
are  still  current — even  in  Austria-Hungary. 

It  will  also  be  within  the  recollection  of  well- 
informed  persons  that  while  a  man  so  closely 
in  touch  with  European  diplomatic  circles  as  the 
late  Mr  Labouchere  absolved  the  late  Prince 
Bismarck,  the  Chancellor,  of  complicity  in  any 
conspiracy  which  sought  to  remove  the  Crown 
Prince  Rudolph  from  the  path  of  Prussian  am- 
bitions (Truth,  March,  1889),  he  made  no  attempt 
to  extend  this  absolution  to  more  aggressive 
representatives  of  Pan-Germanism  in  Berlin. 

A  well-known  English  authority  on  contem- 
porary Germanic  history,  while  committing  him- 
self to  no  definite  accusation  against  anyone,  in  the 
case  of  the  death  of  the  Austrian  Crown  Prince, 
admits  the  opinion  to  have  been  current  through- 
out the  diplomatic  services  of  Europe  that  the 
"  enemies  of  the  House  of  Habsburg "  counted 
for  a  factor  in  the  tragic  episode  of  Meyerling. 

Encyclopaedic  works  of  unquestioned  import- 
ance have  expressed  a  similar  view,  while  reliable 
285 


286  LAST  DAYS  OF  ARCHDUKE  RUDOLPH 

French  writers  have  held  the  opinion  that  these 
enemies  of  the  House  of  Habsburg  sought,  by 
taking  advantage  of  the  Archduke's  unfortunate 
liaison  with  Mademoiselle  Vetsera,  as  well  as  of 
his  tendency  to  a  pronounced  liberalism  in  his 
religious  views,  to  create  in  Vatican  circles  a 
feeling  hostile  to  the  Dual  Monarchy — all  to  the 
furtherance  of  Prussian  political  ambitions. 

For  my  part,  I  have  presented,  in  their  proper 
place  in  the  narrative,  the  political  aspects  of  the 
case,  and  am  convinced  that  those  who  possess 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  anti -Habsburg  bias  in 
Prussia  of  the  later  eighties,  as  well  as  of  the 
trends  of  Prussian  militaristic  world-policy  of 
that  period,  will  support  my  presentment  of  the 
intrigue  in  its  salient  features. 

The  so-called  "  Baroness  Larricarda "  was 
among  those  banished  by  Luperial  edict.  At  the 
same  time  two  members  of  princely  families, 
whose  names  it  is  now  needless  to  mention,  were 
exiled  from  Austria-Hungary.  The  man  Loschek 
was  also  expelled  the  dominions. 

And  here  my  task  ends. 


INDEX 


CONTAINING    NAMES   INCIDENTALLY   MENTIONED    IN    CONNECTION    WITH 
THE   PRINCIPAL   CHARACTERS 


Abenken,  Herr,  i6i 

"  Abington,"  Mr,  37 

Adelphi  Hotel,  Liverpool,  34 

Ajaccio,   149 

Amorites,  175 

Angel  Hotel,  Liverpool,  284 

Archimedes,  251 

Aristotle,  77 

Augusta,  Empress,  199 

Aurelius,  Emperor,  205 

Ayrshire,  racer,  179 

Baden, 255 

Baltazzi,  Mr  A.,  97 

Bancke,  Dr,  159 

Bavaria,  229 

Benevento,  18 

Berlin,  189 

Bernhardi,  Baron,  162 

Bismarck-Bohlen,  Count,  74 

Bismarck,  Herbert,  74 

Bohemia,  155 

Bombelles,  Count,  31  passim 

Bratfisch,  Conrad,  32 

Bratfisch,  Joseph,  32 

Buckle,  historian,  149 

Busch,  Moritz,  75 

Capuchin  Church,  Vienna,  162 
Catherine  II.,  160 
Chamberlain,  Mr  Houston  S.,  175 
Charles  V.,  22 
Chetwynd,  Sir  Geo.,  97 
Claudy,  Councillor,  278 
Conscience,  Henri,  252 
Cornhill  Magazine,  234 
Cromwell,  205 

Davis,  Mr,  37 
Dilke,  Sir  Charles,  31 
Donovan,  racer,  179 
Duchesne,  Bishop,  106 

287 


Emerson,  R.  W.,  233 
Erdody,  Count,  36 

Feldkirch,  school,  19 
Ferdinand  I.,  Emperor,  209 
Four  Hundred,  New  York,  116 
Frederick,  Emperor,  52  passim 
Frederick  the  Great,  48 
Fry,  Mr,  52 
Furstenburg,  Prince,  266 

Galimberti,  Cardinal,  118 
Gallifet,  General  de,  125 
Gamecock,  racer,  36 
Gladstone,  Mr,  162 
Goethe,  252 

Haake,  Dr,  198 
Hamburger  Nachrichten,  162 
Hamlet,  244 
Harden,  Herr,  49 
Heiligen  Kreuz,  255 
Heine,  poet,  19 
Henry  IV.,  Emperor,  80 
Hildebrand  (Gregory  VII.),  201 
Hofburg  Library,  260 
Hoyos,  Count,  29  passim 
Huttenberg,  18 

Jansenists,  67 
Johnson,  Dr,  21 
Jokai,  M.,  78 
Julius  Caesar,  205 

Karolyi,  Count,  38 
Kingsclere,  97 
Kinsky,  Bn.,  36 
Kinsky,  Prince,  266 
Kisber,  racer,  97 
Krause,  Herr,  198 
Kulturkampf,  80 


288  .    ■ 

La  Valliere,  Madame,  loi 
Laxenburg  Castle,  62 
Leo  XIII.,  Pope,  29 
Lincolnshire  Handicap,  33 
Lombardini  family,  18 
London,  changes  in,  121 
Louis  XIV.,  10 1 
Louis  XV.,  92 
Ludwig,  King,  242 

Mackenzie,  Sir  M.,  52 
Manning,  Cardinal,  19 
Marie  Louise,  Empress,  213 
Meissonier,  painter,  252 
Milan,  King,  29 
Modernism,  89 
Moliere,  252 

Montespan,  Madame  de,  10 1 
Montrose,  Duchess  of,  33 
Mukleiten,  Doctor,  278 

Napoleon  I.,  40  passim 
Neumann,  Baron,  115 

Oberon,  racer,  33 
Octavian  (Augustus),  205 
Orloff,  Demetrius,  73 
Orsini  family,  18 
Oser,  Captain,  278 

Paget,  Sir  Augustus,  61 
Pan-Germanism,  48 
Papenberg,  Angela,  207 
Peter  the  Great,  177 
Petri,  Secret  Service  man,  69 
PhiUp  of  Coburg,  Prince,  224 
Pompadour,  Madame  de,  113 
Porter,  Mr  John,  97 
Portland,  Duke  of,  179 
Potocki,  Count  A.,  37 
Prussia,    Prince     Henry     of, 
passim. 


INDEX 

Raskolnik,  88 
Rhodes,  Cecil,  76 
Richeheu,  246 
Rocca  della,  family,  19 
Roederer,  230 
Rokososki,  Sigismund,  58 
Rokososki,  Stanislas,  58 
Roquefort,  racer,  136 

Saxony,  Augustus  of,  91 
Social  Democracy,  231 
Stael,  Madame  de,  106 
Stanley,  Sir  Henry,  76 
Stapleton  family,  18 
Stonyhurst,  school,  19 
Stundists.  88 
Suf&eld,  Lord,  40 
Suetonius,  91 
Sykes,  Mr  C,  40 
Szoegyeni,  Commissioner,  210 

Tenebreuse,  racer,  216 
Thackeray,  W.  M.,  135 
The  Last  Phase,  40 
Tiberius,  Emperor,  205 
Too  Good,  racer,  36 
Trentino,  28 
Tugendbund,  86 

Veracity,  racer,  216 
Veto,  Austrian,  84 
Vetsera  family,  96  passim 
Victoria,  Crown  Princess,  55 
Victoria,  Queen,  127 
Viereck,  Anna,  207 
Voltaire,  22  passim 

Wagner,  248 
Waldersee,  von,  144 
Weininger,  Doctor,  131 
Widerhofer,  Doctor,  277 
Wilczek,  Herr,  115 
150      Wilhelm  I.,  Emperor,  41  passim 
"  Wittelsbach,  Herr."  31 


I 


UNIVERSITY  OF  C  AUFORNIALOS  ANOELES 


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